M 


A 

HALF-BREED  DANCE 


AND  OTHER 

STORIES 


MINING  CAMP,  INDIAN  AND  HUDSON'S  BAY  TALES 

BASED  ON  THE  EXPERIENCES  OF 

THE  AUTHOR 


'By 

H.  KEMP 


United  States  and  Gieat  Britain,  Copyright,  1909 


INLAND  PRINTING  COMPANY 
SPOKANE,  WASH. 


PREFACE 


To  the  many  thousands  of  pioneers, 
prospectors  and  others  of  the  great  West, 
whose  struggles  have  resulted  in  making 
others  rich,  this  volume  is  respectfully 
dedicated  by  one  of  the  number. 


I   TIGHTENED   MY   ARMS   ABOUND   HEE   WAIST 


A  HALF-BREED  DANCE. 


I  had  lived  many  yeajrs  pit  $&%  faivw^cst,  and 
had  seen  frontier  life^rn  Nearly  -  alt -its  many 
phases,  before  the  mcici^nt  l^^r^cffdecUtook 
place,  but  there  was  one  "wfesfern  f ekiii^e  Inat  I 
never  had  the  pleasure  of  enjoying,  and  that  was 
a  genuine  half-breed  dance. 

I  use  the  term  "  half  -breed "  so  as  not  to  be 
confused  with  war,  scalp  or  other  Indian  dances, 
and  for  the  additional  reason  that  a  dance  of  the 
kind  of  which  I  write  much  resembles  and  is  pat- 
terned after  those  of  the  whites.  Full-blooded 
Siwashes  may  attend  these  social  gatherings  on 
the  outer  verge  of  civilization  and  take  part  in  the 
pleasures  there  to  be  found,  but  nevertheless  the 
Indians  of  mixed  blood  are  generally  in  the 
majority  and  always  the  promoters  and  managers 
of  the  affair. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  these  experiences 
happened  upward  of  twenty  years  ago.  Condi- 
tions have  changed  wonderfully  in  the  country 
since  then,  and  it  is  difficult  for  the  late  comer  to 
this  land  to  realize  matters  as  they  were  a  fifth 
of  a  century  ago. 

The  desire  to  attend  a  dance  of  this  description 
had  been  uppermost  with  me  for  a  long  time.  I 
longed  to  take  it  all  in,  write  it  up  and  allow  the 
readers  of  some  widely  circulated  journal  to  know 
just  how  it  was  in  reality. 

It  was  the  month  of  July,  that  a  companion  and 
myself  were  camped  at  Okanogan  Smith's  ranch, 
at  the  northerly  end  of  that  beautiful  body  of 


6  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

water  known  as  Osoyoos  lake,  near  where  the 
bustling  little  city  of  Oroville  has  been  located 
for  a  number  of  years,  but  towns  and  railways 
were  scarcely  dreame4  of  in  that  section  at  that 
time.  My  partner  and  '-I  had  been  traveling  on 
horseback  for  several* "(Jays,  having  ridden  up 
Kettle  rive:-;  from  the  Columbia,  then  crossed  the 
intervening  mountain* range,  at  a  time  when  the 
mercury  registered  110  in  the  shade,  we  had 
arrived  at  this  cool,  pleasant  place  and  decided 
that  we  would  take  a  much-needed  rest. 

During  the  evening  of  the  day  of  our  arrival 
Mr.  Smith's  herder,  who  managed  to  keep  posted 
on  the  doings  of  other  people  for  many  miles 
around,  informed  us  that  there  would  be  one  of 
the  dances  that  I  longed  to  attend  at  Ingraham's 
ranch,  on  Kettle  river,  the  following  night. 

To  say  that  my  partner  and  myself  each  had  a 
mind  to  go  would  be  drawing  it  mild;  we 
determined  at  once  to  take  in  all  the  sport  if  it 
should  be  the  last  act  of  our  pure  and  happy  lives. 
We  questioned  the  herder  and  ascertained  all  the 
facts  about  the  intended  jollification  that  was 
possible ;  our  desire  to  be  present  on  the  occasion 
of  so  much  mirth  becoming  stronger  as  the  talka- 
tive cow  puncher  detailed  to  us  the  fun  we  would 
likely  enjoy. 

On  the  Road. 

Bright  and  early  next  morning  we  were  in  our 
saddles,  speeding  along  over  the  undulating 
country,  but  gradually  climbing  the  divide  sepa- 
rating the  Okanogan  and  Kettle  Eiver  valleys.  We 
were  on  the  great  Colville  Indian  reservation,  and 
were  intent  on  sizing  up  the  vast  area  of  land 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  7 

going*  to  waste  on  account  of  there  being  only  one 
Siwash  to  ten  square  miles. 

It  was  a  beautiful  day,  but  quite  warm,  until  we 
gained  the  summit  and  secured  the  benefit  of  the 
cool  breezes  that  continually  blow  up  or  down  the 
many  gulches.  In  the  early  afternoon  we  started 
down  the  northern  slope,  following  a  stream  called 
Terioda  creek. 

About  4  o'clock  we  met  Mr.  Ingraham  and  his 
klutch,  he  having  one  of  the  natives  for  a  wife. 
Mr.  Ingraham  informed  us  that  no  dance  would 
take  place  at  his  house  that  night,  or  at  least  he 
was  not  aware  that  any  such  affair  would  be  given 
until  his  new  house,  which  he  was  building,  would 
be  completed.  Sadly  disappointed,  we  proceeded 
on  our  journey. 

In  another  hour  we  reached  Kettle  river,  and 
then  rode  eight  miles  up  that  stream  to  Eholts 
ranch,  the  present  site  of  Midway,  British 
Columbia.  This  was  the  place  where  we  intended 
procuring  fresh  horses  to  carry  us  to  Ingraham 's, 
five  miles  further  up  the  river. 

It  was  not  long  after  disposing  of  our  hearty 
evening  meal  and  looking  after  our  tired  and  jaded 
horses  until  my  partner  and  I  retired  to  the  double 
bed  we  were  to  occupy.  My  disappointment  was 
great.  I  had  calculated  so  much  on  the  idea  of 
taking  part  in  that  which  I  considered  one  of  the 
most  interesting  features  of  frontier  life,  and 
during  the  hot,  long  ride  of  the  day  I  had  been 
planning  how  I  would  write  a  description  of  the 
occasion  and  publish  it,  so  that  those  within  the 
borders  of  civilization  could  form  some  idea  of 
social  pleasures  in  the  far  west.  So  heavily  did 


8  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

the  disappointment  weigh  on  my  mind  that  I 
feared  that  I  could  not  sleep. 

A  Surprise. 

But  joy  of  joys.  A  messenger  arrives  at  the 
ranch  and  brings  the  welcome  tidings  that  the 
dance,  a  surprise  party  would  go  on.  Everybody 
was  invited,  a  splendid  time  was  expected  and  if 
we  desired  to  enjoy  the  fun  all  we  had  to  do  was 
saddle  our  horses,  mount  and  go. 

It  scarcely  appeared  an  instant  until  we  were 
on  our  way,  bounding  over  the  prairie-like  river 
bottom  toward  the  scene  of  the  festivities.  I  had 
ridden  fifty  miles  that  day  to  see  what  was  to  be 
seen  and  was  determined  to  take  it  all  in. 

In  due  time  we  arrived  at  the  Ingraham  ranch, 
dismounted  and,  after  promising  each  other  to 
say  nothing  to  our  families  about  our  interests  in 
the  affair,  we  were  ushered  into  the  room  where 
the  company  were  assembled. 

It  appears  at  this  time  almost  impossible  to 
describe  the  scene  that  met  our  eyes.  A  low  room 
about  twenty  feet  square,  around  the  sides  of 
which  were  rough  benches  on  which  sat  persons 
of  the  different  sexes,  of,  it  appeared  to  me,  every 
shade  imaginable,  from  the  pure  white  man  and 
woman  to  the  blackest  Indian,  interspersed  with 
mixed  blood  of  all  shades  of  copper.  All  ages,  too, 
were  represented.  The  room  was  a  perfect  babel 
of  sounds.  Some  were  conversing  in  English, 
some  in  the  Indian  tongue,  others  were  carrying  on 
their  conversations  in  Chinook,  and  in  one  corner 
two  Chinamen,  who  had  come  down  from  Eock 
creek,  were  having  a  war  of  words,  apparently, 
in  their  native  language. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


A    HUDSON'S    BAY    FIDDLER 

Hudson's  Bay  Fiddling. 

Sitting  on  a  chair  placed  on  the  top  of  a  common 
table  in  another  corner  was  a  bald-headed  man 
busily  engaged  in  tuning  an  antiquated  looking 
fiddle.  " Hudson's  Bay,"  remarked  my  com- 


io  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

panion,  pointing  toward  the  musician.  I  did  not 
know  at  this  time  the  meaning  of  these  two  words 
in  that  connection,  but  afterward  I  thoroughly 
understood  the  meaning  of  Hudson 's  Bay  fiddler, 
and,  if  the  reader  is  patient,  will  endeavor  to 
describe  this  backwoods  disciple  of  Paganini. 

A  Hudson's  Bay  fiddler  is  one  of  the  old  fur 
company's  employes  with  a  taste  for  music  which 
is  only  brought  to  the  surface  by  an  energetic  use 
of  the  bow.  They  are  as  necessary  adjuncts  to  a 
half-breed  dance  as  the  half-breeds  themselves. 

They  can  generally  play  but  imperfectly  a  few 
old-style  tunes.  If  a  string  on  the  instrument 
breaks,  and  there  is  not  another  within  100  miles, 
does  the  dance  cease  on  account  of  the  lack  of 
music?  No!  Mr.  Hudson's  Bay  fastens  on  a 
tow  string,  a  piece  of  barb  wire  from  the  nearest 
fence,  anything  that  will  make  a  noise  when 
stretched,  and  the  fun  goes  on. 

The  Dance. 

"Take  your  pardners  for  a  quodrille,"  yelled 
old  Hudson's  Bay,  as  he  drew  the  bow  across  the 
tightened  strings  of  the  fiddle,  which  appeared  to 
be  tuned  to  his  satisfaction. 

Instantly  the  hum  of  voices  ceased,  and  there 
was  a  hurrying  of  feet  on  the  puncheon  floor.  The 
first  thing  that  I  knew  I  was  bowing  and  extending 
my  left  arm  to  the  first  purely  native  American 
lady  I  saw.  There  was  no  need  of  introduction. 
She  accepted  me  as  a  partner,  and  we  took  our 
places  in  one  of  the  sets  that  were  forming. 

"All  ready,"  shouted  old  Hudson's  Bay  as  he 
tucked  the  fiddle  under  his  chin. 

"Jeemeny   whiz!     Here's   room   for    another 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 1 

couple  in  this  set,"  yelled  a  young  white  man. 
1 1  Say,  can 't  I  cut  a  heifer  out  of  that  band  rounded 
up  over  there  and  have  a  dance  I" 

The  young  fellow  took  a  plaited  rawhide  rope 
from  his  belt,  and  dexterously  lassoed  a  comely 
looking  half -breed  girl  at  the  other  side  of  the 
room  and  brought  her  to  him  by  pulling  the  lariat 
hand  over  hand.  Thus  we  were  standing  in  wait- 
ing for  the  dance  to  go  on. 

"Turn  on  the  water,"  roared  "Gumboot  Pete," 
from  the  placer  diggings  up  at  the  mouth  of  Bock 
creek. 

"All  set,  hist  away!"  piped  "Hard  Eock  Sam," 
who  was  engaged  in  prospecting  a  copper  ledge 
on  Boundary  creek. 

"All  rounded  up,"  screamed  the  cowboy. 

These  exclamations  came  from  the  gentlemen, 
who  with  their  feminine  partners,  composed  the 
set  in  which  I  had  taken  a  place.  They  were 
caused  by  the  delay  as  old  Hudson's  Bay  was 
again  monkeying  with  the  strings  of  his  fiddle. 

I  put  in  my  time  examining  the  personnel  of 
my  companions  in  the  set.  "Gumboot  Pete"  was 
properly  named,  as  he  had  a  pair  of  rubber  boots 
that  reached  as  far  up  as  boots  could  go  on  the 
inside  of  his  limbs,  flaps  extended  up  over  his  hips 
and  were  held  in  place  by  the  belt  around  his  waist 
passing  through  the  loops.  A  blue  flannel  shirt 
and  slouch  hat  completed  his  ballroom  costume. 

"Hard  Eock  Sam"  had  on  a  pair  of  yellow  hob- 
nailed boots,  drawn  up  over  his  blue  overalls,  a 
red  flannel  undershirt  partly  covered  with  a 
ragged  vest,  and  a  cap  about  two  sizes  too  small 
for  him,  comprised  his  evening  dress. 

The   cowboy   had   United    States  government 


12 


A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 


THE  COWBOY 


GUMBOOT  PETE 


HARD  BOCK  SAM 


shoes  on  his  feet,  leather  shaps  on  his  legs  over 
a  pair  of  buckskin  pantaloons,  a  vest  of  the  same 
material,  a  calico  shirt  (very  much  soiled)  and  a 
sombrero  on  his  head. 

The  females  were  one  and  all  dressed  in  cheap 
calico  and  wore  moccasins  on  their  feet. 

After  taking  the  above  inventory  of  the  others, 
I  turned  to  my  lady  so  as  to  carefully  study  her 
features  as  well  as  make-up,  but  was  startled  by 
the  hoarse  voice  of  old  Hudson's  Bay  with  the 
request  to  "say-loot  your  pardners." 

On  With  the  Dance. 

Then  the  dance  commenced  in  real  earnest.  I 
do  not  know  the  name  of  the  tune  that  old  Hud- 
son's Bay  ground  out  of  the  fiddle,  and  I  was  too 
modest  to  inquire.  What  it  lacked  in  melody  was 
made  up  in  energy  and  vim  by  the  dancers. 

The  rubber  soles  of  Mr.  Pete's  rubber  boots 


:  Other  Far  Western  Stones.  13 

appeared  to  lift  him  up  until  his  head  nearly 
touched  the  ceiling  at  times,  while  the  clatter  of 
Mr.  Sam's  hob-nailed  underpinning  was  not  much 
unlike  the  thumping  of  stamps  in  a  quartz  mill. 
The  cowboy  patted  the  floor  with  the  grace  of  an 
experienced  clog  dancer. 

The  ladies,  with  their  moccasined  feet,  skipped 
nimbly  about,  while  I,  in  the  excitement  occasioned 
by  the  newness  of  everything,  soon  noticed  that  I 
had  neglected  to  remove  the  heavy  pair  of  Mexican 
spurs  from  my  top  riding  boots,  and  was  making 
nearly  as  much  racket  as  "Hard  Bock  Sam." 

After  the  first  heat  I  had  more  leisure  to  get 
acquainted  with  my  fair  partner,  and  I  turned  my 
admiring  gaze  upon  her,  when  I  was  charmed  to 
see  that  she  was  engaged  in  the  pleasing  pastime 
of  sizing  me  up.  It  was  not  long  until  I  concluded 
that  I  had  drawn  quite  a  prize  in  the  lottery  of  fate. 
I  had  that  which  some  term  an  affinity,  in  fact,  I 
had  snared  a  gazelle.  My  charmer  was  of  a  tar- 
nished brass  color,  except  for  three  dark,  or,  I 
should  say,  black  spots,  which  were  prominent  on 
her  face.  She  was  about  four  feet  in  height  and 
about  two  and  one-half  feet  wide — in  places,  it 
is  unnecessary  to  state  that  her  hair  was  black  as 
the  raven's  wing,  but  I  will  mention  that  it 
apparently  had  not  been  combed  for  some  time. 
Her  hands  were  very  plump,  but  her  fingers 
tapered  the  wrong  way  and  there  was  enough  real 
estate  under  the  nails  to  bring  her  quite  a  stake 
did  she  have  it  located  in  the  business  center  of 
Spokane. 

Her  admiring  scrutiny  of  my  classic  features 
and  gothic  form  caused  my  proud  heart  to  palpi- 
tate with  rapture,  and  for  the  first  time  in  my 


14  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

checkered  life  I  realized  that  I  had  made  a  mash. 
However,  we  did  not  have  much  time  for  mutual 
admiration,  as  old  Hudson's  Bay  screeched 
"Balance  all,"  and  we  were  soon  again  going 
through  the  merry  mazes  of  the  intricate  quadrille. 

A  Conversazione. 

Like  everything  else  in  this  world,  the 
maneuvers  on  the  floor  came  to  an  end  and  I  led 
my  charming  partner  to  the  further  side  of  the 
room  and  seated  her  on  a  sawbuck,  that  being  the 
only  vacant  receptacle  for  her  ladyship  in  the 
apartment.  At  her  request  I  sat  down  on  an 
inverted  mackerel  kit  at  her  feet  and  we  immedi- 
ately formed  a  mutual  admiration  society  with 
only  two  members. 

In  very  poor  English,  fair  Chinook  and  some- 
times using  the  Indian  language,  she  gave  me  an 
account  of  her  history.  I  noticed  that  her  nose 
was  as  flat  as  the  proverbial  pancake,  and,  like 
her  cheeks,  as  mentioned  before,  had  black  spots 
on  it,  showing  prominently  on  her  brassy  skin. 
Noticing  that  I  had  observed  this  disfigurement, 
she  explained  to  me  that  when  she  was  a  little 
pappoose  playing  around  the  camp  fire,  while  her 
mother,  a  full  blooded  Siwash,  was  frying  venison 
steak,  she  had  in  some  manner  angered  her 
maternal  ancestor,  who,  in  a  moment  of  ungov- 
ernable wrath,  seized  the  hot  frying-pan  by  the 
handle  and  struck  her  on  the  face  with  the  bottom 
of  it,  thus  mashing  her  nose  flat  and  leaving  the 
black  spots  on  her  cheeks  and  nose,  which  I  had 
before  noticed.  She  informed  me  that  her  father, 
who  was  a  white  man,  was  engaged  in  the  business 
of  horse  stealing,  and  pursued  that  branch  of  in- 


i  Other  Far  Western  Stories.  15 

dustry  in  British  Columbia  and  the  United  States. 
I  was  startled  by  her  remarking  that  if  I  would 
marry  her  I  could  make  plenty  of  money  by  going 
into  the  agricultural  implement  business.  On 
asking  for  information  on  the  subject,  she  enlight- 
ened me  by  stating  that  the  Indians  from  British 
Columbia  and  the  states  every  year  went  to  the 
agency  of  the  reservation  and  drew  wagons, 
harness,  mowing  machines,  plows,  hay  rakes,  etc., 
and  sold  them  to  the  first  customer  for  what  they 
would  give.  I  could  buy  these  necessary  articles 
for  a  song  and  dispose  of  them  to  ranchers  for 
big  figures  and  coin  money. 

The  Mazy  Waltz. 

At  this  point  old  Hudson's  Bay  announced  that 
a  waltz  would  be  the  next  feature  of  the  program, 
and  my  charmer  and  myself  were  soon  on  the  floor 
whirling  in  the  maze  enjoying  that  bliss  only 
known  to  two  souls  with  but  a  single  thought.  I 
gazed  rapturously  in  the  face  of  the  smitten  half- 
breed  girl ;  her  gleaming,  bead-like  eyes  were  fixed 
on  mine;  forgotten  was  the  music  and  the  other 
persons  in  the  room.  She  looked  to  my  distorted 
fancy  like  a  veal  cutlet  breaded,  and  her  breath 
smelled  like  the  swill  barrel  at  a  summer  resort. 
I  stooped  lower  so  as  to  more  closely  press  her 
form  to  mine.  I  tightened  my  arms  around  her 

waist.    She  looked  up  into  my  face  and  said : 

####### 

11  Helen  blazes!  You  have  killed  me  sure."  It 
was  my  male  partner's  voice  I  heard.  I  had 
crushed  in  two  of  his  ribs,  and  he  had  kicked  me 
out  of  bed  on  to  the  floor. 

The  half-breed  dance  was  but  a  dream. 


i6 


A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 


AN  ORIGINAL  BEAR  STORY. 


N  reading  the  newspaper 
accounts  of  the  contro- 
versy between  President 
Eoosevelt  and  Dr.  Wil- 
liam J.  Long,  the  nature 
writer,  prompts  me  to  tell 
of  a  little  experience  that 
a  white  man,  an  Indian 
and  myself  had  with  a 
few  of  the  wild  animals 
that  these  noted  people 

are  quarreling  about.  The  story  is  given  below 
and  those  interested  are  invited  to  investigate  and 
prove  the  statements  made  to  their  own  satisfac- 
tion. 

Late  in  the  fall  of  1889  I  made  a  trip  to  the 
Metaline  mining  camp,  on  the  Pend  d'Oreille 
iriver,  in  the  extreme  northwestern  portion  of 
Washington.  While  on  this  jaunt  I  met  and  be- 
came acquainted  with  several  of  the  husky  braves 
of  the  Calispel  Indian  tribe,  a  remnant  of  which 
yet  live  on  the  banks  of  that  stream. 

One  of  these  young  bucks,  a  lad  about  twenty 
years  of  age,  and  myself  became  fast  friends.  I 
had  filled  his  capacious  stomach  with  choice 
canned  fruit  several  times,  and  from  my  ex- 
perience I  have  always  found  that  you  can  reach 
the  Siwash  heart  in  that  manner  if  by  no  other. 
This  young  Indian  informed  me  that  his  name  was 
Kusote,  and  when  I  said  "Ma  how  ya"  to  him  on 
the  banks  of  the  Pend  d'Oreille,  near  the  mouth  of 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  17 

the  Calispel,  late  in  the  fall  of  that  year  I  had 
little  idea  of  ever  meeting  him  again. 

Imagine  my  surprise  during  the  month  of 
March,  1890,  to  have  a  call  from  my  dusky 
acquaintance.  How  he  ever  found  me  in  my  lodg- 
ings in  Spokane  has  always  been  a  mystery  to  me, 
but  it  shows  that  the  Siwash  can  trace  one  out, 
particularly  when  you  can  speak  their  language. 

The  Indian  had  not  been  in  my  presence  long 
until  I  saw  that  he  had  something  of  importance 
to  lay  before  me.  He  drew  from  his  blanket  a 
buckskin  pouch  and  emptied  the  contents  on  the 
table.  Examination  showed  that  the  substance 
was  a  peculiar  form  of  natural  cement,  and  on 
crumbling  it  with  my  fingers  I  noticed  that  it  was 
well  filled  with  native  gold,  some  pieces  as  large 
as  a  pea,  but  the  main  bulk  was  much  finer.  To- 
gether the  Indian  and  I  proceeded  to  Fassett's 
assay  office,  where  the  mass  was  ground,  panned 
out  and  melted.  The  little  brick  of  gold  that  the 
assayer  turned  over  to  us  weighed  two  ounces, 
and  Warren  Hussey,  then  a  banker  and  gold  buyer 
of  the  city,  counted  out  four  bright  ten-dollar  gold 
pieces  for  it,  which  my  Indian  friend  stowed  away 
in  his  buckskin  poke. 

In  the  seclusion  of  my  room  that  day  Kusote 
told  me  the  story  of  how  he  came  to  secure  this 
gold.  A  few  weeks  before  he  had  been  out  hunting 
near  where  his  tribe  were  camped  when  he  ran 
onto  a  cinnamon  bear,  which  had  apparently  come 
out  of  its  winter  quarters  sooner  than  usual.  He 
had  taken  a  shot  at  the  animal  and  wounded  it  in 
the  side.  The  beast  remained  stunned  for  a  few 
moments  and  then  ran  snorting  up  a  gulch.  On 
going  to  the  place  where  the  bear  stood  when  hit, 


THE    COLONEL 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  19 

lie  had  found  that  his  bullet  had  chipped  the  sub- 
stance carrying  the  gold  from  the  side  of  the  bear. 
On  trailing  the  animal  up  the  gulch  he  had  located 
its  lair,  as  it  had  disappeared  in  a  large  hole  in  a 
big  pile  of  rocks.  Since  then  he  had  not  visited 
the  spot. 

After  hearing  the  Indian's  story  I  concluded  to 
go  with  him  and  ferret  out  this  mystery.  If  there 
were  a  lot  of  bears  roaming  around  the  country 
packing  heavy  loads  of  native  gold  I  was  de- 
termined to  have  a  share  of  it  or  know  the  reason 
why.  The  Indian  agreed  to  pilot  myself  and  a 
companion  to  the  spot  for  a  share  in  the  profits, 
and  I  immediately  set  to  work  to  find  a  suitable 
person  with  whom  to  divide  the  sport  and  also  the 
possible  dividends  of  the  enterprise. 

It  was  not  long  until  I  had  my  man,  and  he 
entered  heartily  into  the  spirit  of  the  venture. 
This  gentleman  was  a  very  particular  chum  of 
mine;  he  was  one  of  the  powderless  colonels  who 
had  heard  of  the  civil  war,  but  not  sufficiently  to 
enable  him  to  draw  a  pension.  We  were  not  long 
in  arranging  details,  and  in  two  days  more  the 
three  of  us  were  on  our  way  with  a  light  spring 
wagon  and  a  complete  camping  and  prospecting 
outfit. 

Leaving  Spokane  early  in  the  morning  we 
traveled  leisurely  and  camped  that  night  on  the 
Calispel  river  where  it  widens  out  into  the  broad 
valley,  which  in  that  day  was  covered  with  fine 
ranches.  By  noon  of  the  following  day  we  were 
on  the  bank  of  the  Pend  d'Oreille  river  opposite 
the  old  Hudson's  Bay  blockhouse,  which  was  an 
ancient  landmark,  situated  several  miles  above 


2O  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

the  point  where  the  Calispel  empties  into  the  Pend 
d'Oreille. 

Here  the  Indian  informed  us  that  we  would  have 
to  leave  our  horses  and  wagon,  as  we  would  be 
compelled  to  cross  the  river  on  a  raft.  After 
ferrying  all  our  supplies  across  the  swift  stream 
we  placed  our  team  and  wagon  in  the  care  of  a 
rancher,  telling  the  tiller  of  the  soil  that  we  were 
on  a  hunting  expedition  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  and  would  be  absent  several  days. 

We  made  a  comfortable  camp  at  the  mouth  of 
a  gulch  near  the  Hudson  Bay  blockhouse  men- 
tioned above,  as  Knsote  said  that  this  would  be 
the  most  convenient  location  for  our  operations. 
He  also  informed  us  that  it  was  in  this  gulch  that 
he  had  wounded  the  bear  from  which  he  had 
obtained  the  gold  that  he  had  disposed  of  in 
Spokane. 

Scarcely  had  the  sun  peeped  over  the  Cabinet 
range  of  mountains  the  next  morning  when  we 
were  astir.  Armed  with  rifles  and  well  supplied 
with  prospecting  implements,  we  proceeded  up  the 
gulch,  keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for  any  members 
of  the  bruin  family. 

As  the  colonel  and  I  stopped  to  rest  at  the 
mouth  of  a  small  side  gulch,  which  the  Indian  said 
was  the  one  up  which  his  wounded  bear  had 
scampered,  we  were  aroused  by  a  shout  from  the 
Siwash.  On  looking  up  we  saw  a  large  cinnamon 
about  200  feet  from  us  up  the  gulley.  It  was 
apparently  in  a  hurry  to  get  somewhere  and  was 
going  in  an  opposite  direction  from  that  which  we 
came.  We  all  three  fired  simultaneously,  but  only 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  animal  stop  for 
a  second  and  then  move  on.  We  decided  that  one 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  2 1 

of  our  bullets  had  hit  the  beast,  but  that  we  had 
done  no  serious  damage. 

As  fast  as  we  could  travel  we  followed  the  bear 
up  the  steep  gulch  and  saw  it  enter  a  hole  in  a 
ledge  of  loose  rocks.  Kusote  said  that  this  was 
the  same  place  that  he  had  lost  track  of  the  one 
that  he  had  wounded  some  time  before.  On  close 
examination  of  the  aperture  in  which  the  bear  had 
disappeared  we  found  a  considerable  quantity  of 
the  same  cement  that  contained  the  gold  such  as 
the  Indian  had  shown  me  in  Spokane.  On 
crumbling  this  substance  we  found  that  it  was 
heavily  impregnated  with  the  much  admired 
yellow  metal. 

With  the  other  supplies  that  we  had  brought 
with  us  was  ten  pounds  of  dynamite  besides  the 
necessary  caps  and  fuse  for  exploding  the  same. 
We  secured  these  from  the  camp,  placed  the  ex- 
plosive in  the  opening  properly  primed,  then 
packed  rocks  solidly  on  top  the  charge  so  that 
none  of  the  force  of  the  dynamite  would  be  wasted, 
lighted  the  fuse  and  hastily  retreated,  going  up 
the  hill  instead  of  down,  my  experience  as  a  miner 
having  taught  me  that  this  was  the  safest  method. 

In  a  few  moments  there  was  a  deafening  report 
and  the  air  below  us  was  filled  with  flying  rocks 
and  dust.  Then  a  rumbling  and  grinding  noise, 
which  lasted  for  a  number  of  minutes.  It  did  not 
require  much  time  for  us  to  discover  that  the  jar 
of  the  explosion  had  loosened  the  large  quantity 
of  boulders  and  the  mass  had  slid  down  the  hill. 

When  we  knew  that  all  was  safe  down  the  slope 
we  scrambled  to  see  what  we  could  find.  All  at 
once  a  huge  cinnamon  appeared  on  the  down  hill 
side  of  the  rock  pile.  It  was  but  a  moment  until 


22  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

we  had  pumped  the  brute  so  full  of  lead  that  his 
mission  in  life  was  ended.  The  colonel  and  I  were 
estimating  the  quantity  of  gold  that  was  clinging 
to  his  shaggy  sides  when  we  were  aroused  by  a 
cry  from  the  Indian.  On  looking  in  his  direction 
we  saw  the  Siwash  on  top  of  the  rock  slide 
wildly  gesticulating.  On  arriving  at  the  point 
where  he  stood  it  was  easy  to  see  that  which  ex- 
cited him.  There  was  the  remains  of  another  bear, 
ground  to  mincemeat  almost,  by  the  action  of  the 
sliding  rocks.  This  fact  gave  us  some  additional 
information  as  to  the  importance  of  our  new 
source  of  wealth.  The  stomach  and  intestines  of 
this  animal  were  completely  filled  with  the  cement, 
and  the  cement,  to  use  a  miner 's  phrase,  was  lousy 
with  gold.  "By  the  sword  of  Bunker  Hill,"  re- 
marked my  military  titled  companion,  "I  have 
heard  bear  stories,  but  when  we  get  back  to  civili- 
zation and  tell  this  one,  no  person  can  be  found 
who  will  believe  us,  even  when  we  show  them  the 
gold  that  will  be  cleaned  up  from  this  remarkable 
discovery." 

By  this  time  it  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  as 
the  day's  exertions  and  excitement  had  wearied 
us,  it  was  deemed  best  to  return  to  camp  and  leave 
the  process  of  cleaning  up  until  the  next  day.  That 
night  as  the  colonel  and  I  smoked  our  pipes  by 
the  camp  fire  we  reasoned  out  the  problem,  which 
was  very  simple,  as  to  how  these  bears  were  going 
around  loaded  with  so  much  wealth.  They  had 
made  their  lair  in  a  natural  cement  lead,  this 
material  being  soft,  it  had  clung  to  their  shaggy 
coats.  The  fact  of  the  internal  regions  of  the 
animals  being  filled  with  the  substance  was  also 
easily  accounted  for.  Bears,  while  hibernating, 


Other  Far  Western  Stones. 


ESTIMATING   THE   QUANTITY    OF    GOLD 


24  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

are  inclined  to  swallow  anything  soft  that  is  with- 
in reach,  and  as  these  had  not  yet  left  their  den 
and  consumed  any  food,  the  accumulations  of  the 
winter  months  were  still  in  their  interiors. 

Next  day  was  one  of  strenuosity.  The  three  of 
us  worked  hard.  It  was  a  disagreeable  and  diffi- 
cult task  to  collect  the  cement-laden  gold  from  the 
rocks,  and  the  colonel  and  I  performed  this  job 
while  Kusote  skinned  and  dismembered  the  one 
that  we  had  killed.  Finally  all  the  evidences  of 
wealth  were  placed  in  gunny  sacks  and  taken  to 
our  main  camp.  By  diligent  work  with  a  gold  pan 
all  the  noble  metal  was  collected  and  stowed  in  an 
extra  large  buckskin  poke  that  we  had  brought 
with  us.  We  had  no  scales  to  weigh  the  gold, 
but  the  colonel,  as  he  hefted  the  sack,  said:  "I 
lost  everything  that  I  had  in  the  Spokane  fire  ex- 
cept my  military  title  and  my  war  record,  and  I'll 
bet  both  against  a  peanut  that  these  bears  will 
assay  $1,500  each. ' '  In  this  the  colonel  was  about 
correct.  He  took  the  metal  to  the  United  States 
assay  office  at  Helena,  and  our  net  returns  were  a 
little  in  excess  of  $3,000.  From  one  cause  and 
another  we  have  never  returned  to  the  scene  of 
our  peculiar  find,  but  we  are  now  arranging  to 
spend  our  summer  vacation  there,  when  we  may 
slaughter  a  few  more  loaded  members  of  the  bruin 
family  and  exploit  the  lead  of  gold  impregnated 
cement. 

In  the  meantime  should  President  Eoosevelt  or 
any  other  noted  naturalist  desire  to  join  the  party, 
they  have  my  permission,  and  I  believe  that  I  can 
vouch  for  the  colonel,  as  he  is  yet  very  much  alive 
and  heavily  charged  with  good  nature. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  25 


MADE  AN  ODD  CLEAN-UP. 


It  was  during  the  winter  of  1878-9,  if  my 
memory  serves  me  right,  that  the  events  here 
recorded  happened.  I  had  been  assayer  for  the 
Big  Gun  Mining  company,  a  concern  that  owned  a 
group  of  silver  mines  and  a  large  stamp  mill  in 
what  was  known  as  Goose  Neck  canyon,  in  the 
state  of  Nevada.  The  operations  of  the  company 
had  been  reasonably  successful,  but  as  the  con- 
cern was  new,  and  the  manager  had  failed  to  lay 
in  a  sufficient  quantity  of  supplies  for  the  winter, 
and  in  addition  to  this  the  snow  fell  to  an  immense 
depth  in  that  locality,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
close  down  the  mines  and  works  until  the  following 
spring,  when  operations  would  be  resumed. 

When  the  final  arrangements  were  made,  a 
watchman  and  myself  were  to  be  the  only  persons 
to  remain  at  the  works,  a  lonely  and  desolate  place, 
during  the  long  and  dreary  winter  which  was  then 
coming  on. 

The  watchman  was  a  trusted  employee  of  the 
company.  He  had  been  the  retort  man,  a  respon- 
sible position,  as  all  the  amalgam  from  the  twenty- 
stamp  mill,  amounting  to  thousands  of  dollars  a 
month,  passed  through  his  hands,  as  well  as  the 
metal  after  it  had  been  freed  from  the  quicksilver 
that  had  collected  it  from  its  matrix  in  the  large 
amalgamating  pans. 

Jim  Boyd  was  the  name  of  this  person  who  was 
to  share  my  lonely  life  in  the  canyon  until  the 
snows  had  disappeared  and  the  manager  returned 


26  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

with  a  crew  to  resume  operations.  Jim  was  a 
fairly  well  educated  fellow  for  a  workingman,  and 
was  of  a  very  observing  nature.  I  saw  in  the  be- 
ginning that  he  and  I  could  get  along  very  well 
together  for  the  many  months  that  we  expected 
to  be  alone.  We  had  provided  ourselves  with 
plenty  of  reading  matter  and  had  fixed  up  a  tem- 
porary gymnasium  in  the  mill  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  exercise  when  we  felt  in  need  of  the  same. 

As  the  office  of  the  company  was  a  roomy 
structure,  we  easily  arranged  our  living  quarters 
in  first  class  shape,  having  one  room  for  a  kitchen, 
another  for  a  dining  room  and  still  another 
equipped  with  two  beds,  which  was  our  sleeping 
compartment.  As  I  had  been  out  prospecting 
often  and  had  acquired  the  art  of  cookery  to  quite 
an  extent,  and  being  finicky  on  the  proper  (to  my 
mind)  preparation  of  foods,  I  assumed  the  duties 
of  cook,  leaving  Jim  to  perform  the  less  profes- 
sional work  of  washing  dishes  and  cleaning  up 
generally. 

Of  course  all  these  arrangements  were  made 
after  the  manager  and  the  men  who  had  been 
employed  in  the  mines  and  mill  had  left.  About 
the  time  we  had  everything  in  first  class  shape 
and  were  completing  our  plans  to  pass  the  long 
months  in  the  best  manner  possible,  we  were  sur- 
prised to  have  visitors  unexpectedly.  The  snow 
at  this  time  was  about  three  feet  deep  and  quite 
soft,  hence  we  thought  that  it  was  impossible  for 
people  to  travel. 

However,  one  evening  about  nine  o'clock,  while 
a  strong  wind  was  blowing  outside,  there  was  a 
loud  rap  on  our  door  and  we  both  hastened  to 
open  it.  In  filed  three  roughly  dressed  men.  They 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


27 


IN  FILED   THREE  EOUGHLT   DRESSED  MEN- 

were  not  long  in  explaining  how  they  came  to  be 
there.  According  to  their  story,  which  we  never 
afterward  had  cause  to  doubt,  they  had  been  on  a 
prospecting  trip  several  miles  farther  up  the 
canyon  then  we  were  located.  They  had  gone 
there  by  another  route  during  the  past  summer 
and  had  struck  some  healthy  appearing  mineral 


28  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

veins  which  they  desired  to  thoroughly  prospect 
before  going  outside  for  the  winter.  Finally  when 
they  saw  that  the  snow  would  soon  come,  they  had 
been  prevented  from  starting  on  account  of  the 
illness  of  one  of  their  number,  who  was  not  a 
healthy  man  at  any  time  since  his  companions  had 
known  him.  Consequently  they  had  remained  in 
the  rough  cabin  that  they  had  erected  until  short- 
ness of  provisions  and  the  possibility  of  starvation 
had  compelled  them  to  move  on.  As  the  route 
down  the  canyon  would  bring  them  to  a  lower 
altitude  sooner  than  by  traveling  in  any  other 
direction,  they  had  come  our  way;  now  could  we 
put  them  up  for  the  night  at  least?  To  add  to 
their  hardships,  the  sound  men  had  had  to  almost 
carry  their  sick  companion,  the  soft  snow  not  per- 
mitting them  to  draw  him  on  a  sled  even  if  they 
had  such  a  convenience. 

Jim  and  I  soon  assured  the  travelers  that  they 
were  welcome  to  the  best  we  had,  and  soon  a 
smoking  hot  meal  was  set  on  the  table  for  them. 
All  ate  heartily  except  the  sick  man.  His  appetite 
was  poor  and  he  had  but  little  to  say.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  he  was  quite  ill,  but  the  cause  of  his 
affliction  none  of  us  knew  at  the  time,  we  little 
dreaming  of  the  surprise  in  store  for  Jim  and 
myself  when  we  alone  would  come  to  a  full  realiza- 
tion of  his  malady.  Jim  hustled  out  to  the  mill 
through  the  deep  snow  and  soon  returned  with  all 
the  blankets  that  he  could  carry,  as  a  number  had 
been  stored  there  by  members  of  the  crew  who  did 
not  wish  to  take  them  along  when  they  left  for  the 
winter.  Our  guests  were  soon  made  as  comfort- 
able as  ourselves,  although  they  slept  on  the  office 
floor,  and,  after  smoking  a  few  pipes  and  getting 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  29 

better  acquainted,  we  all  retired  to  our  different 
beds  for  the  purpose  of  surrendering  to  the 
drowsy  god.  Except  for  an  occasional  moan  from 
our  sick  guest,  nothing  disturbed  us  throughout 
the  night. 

The  next  morning  we  found  that  there  had  been 
another  heavy  fall  of  snow  and  realized  the  impos- 
sibility of  our  new  friends  traveling  that  day, 
hence  they  went  to  work  making  snowshoes  out  of 
material  that  Jim  found  somewhere  in  the  mill 
building. 

For  three  days  they  remained  with  us,  the 
afflicted  man  growing  more  and  more  ill  each  day, 
but  he  bore  his  trouble  uncomplainingly.  If  he 
had  anything  to  say  it  was  to  express  his  appre- 
ciation of  our  efforts  to  relieve  him  and  to  tell 
us  that  he  hoped  he  was  not  a  burden  to  his 
friends.  On  the  night  before  they  were  to  leave, 
we  held  a  council  and  decided,  for  humanity  sake, 
that  the  man  should  remain  with  Jim  and  I,  as 
his  condition  was  such  that  he  should  not  be 
exposed  to  the  elements.  Thus  it  was  decided  that 
there  would  be  three  of  us  to  share  that  lonely 
vigil  in  the  wilderness,  and  perhaps  one  would 
never  live  to  see  the  bare  ground  again. 

How  often  I  have  thought  afterward  of  the  dif- 
ference between  the  afflicted  out  in  the  wilds 
among  his  fellow  men  and  in  the  congested  dis- 
tricts of  civilization.  With  the  rough  miner,  the 
sick  and  the  helpless  have  every  care  and  atten- 
tion that  can  be  bestowed,  but  in  the  cities,  and 
perhaps  in  smaller  places  as  well,  those  in  distress 
are  left  to  shift  for  themselves  or  depend  on  cold 
charity.  The  wilds,  in  my  experience,  do  not  bring 
out  the  savagery,  but  rather  the  more  divine  quali- 


39  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

ties  of  man,  except,   perhaps,   in  rare  instances. 

With  snowshoes  firmly  strapped  to  their  feet 
and  with  ample  provisions  and  bedding,  after  a 
frosty  night  when  there  was  quite  a  crust  on  the 
snow,  the  two  men,  after  hearty  farewells,  started 
on  their  journey  and  were  soon  lost  to  view 
around  a  bend  in  the  canyon.  The  three  of  us 
were  alone  to  make  the  best  of  circumstances. 

Jim  and  I  had  many  private  talks  about  our 
companion  and  the  disease,  or  complaint,  that 
appeared  to  be  sapping  his  life  away.  I  noticed 
that  Jim  studied  the  man  continually,  and  often 
I  would  see  a  peculiar  expression  on  his  face  after 
he  had  been  scrutinizing  the  invalid  for  some  time. 
Finally  one  evening,  when  the  sick  man  was  dozing 
in  his  chair,  Jim  came  over  to  me  and  whispered, 
"He  is  loaded  as  sure  as  I  live."  I  was  about  to 
ask  Jim  for  an  explanation  of  his  meaning  when 
we  noticed  that  the  sleeper  was  waking,  so  all 
conversation  was  stopped  for  the  time  being. 

The  following  day  Jim  had  some  work  that 
needed  looking  after  in  the  mill.  As  I  needed  some 
exercise,  I  went  out  to  the  works.  As  soon  as  Jim 
saw  me  he  came  up  and  said:  "Now  I  can  tell 
you  what  I  meant  last  night  when  I  said  that  that 
fellow  was  loaded.  Why,  he  is  simply  full  of  quick- 
silver. He  tells  me  that  he  has  worked  in  the 
Almadan  quicksilver  mines  for  years ;  then  he  has 
been  retort  man  at  any  number  of  quartz  mills, 
so  that  he  has  absorbed  enough  mercury  to  kill  a 
half  dozen  men.  Now  if  you  watch  him  closely 
when  he  sits  down  he  appears  to  drop  like  a 
gunnysack  filled  with  some  soft  material." 

From  my  own  experience  of  years  around  amal- 
gamating works,  I  knew  that  retort  men  and 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  3 1 

others  often  absorbed  the  fumes  of  quicksilver  and 
as  a  rule  retained  the  metal  in  their  systems,  caus- 
ing them  to  suffer  more  or  less  throughout  the 
remainder  of  their  lives.  Jim  now  brought  up  the 
argument  that  when  a  man  absorbed  large  quan- 
tities of  quicksilver,  he  would  at  the  same  time 
take  into  his  system  more  or  less  of  the  metals 
that  had  an  affinity  for  the  mercury.  He  clinched 
his  argument,  to  his  own  satisfaction,  by  saying 
he  believed  that  he  would  assay  quite  high  in  gold 
and  silver  himself  were  he  sampled  and  tested. 

As  the  days  passed  by  we  could  not  help  but 
notice  that  the  sick  man  was  growing  weaker,  and 
we  fully  realized  that  his  remaining  days  on  earth 
were  few.  Every  time  I  would  mention  to  Jim 
that  we  would  have  to  make  arrangements  for  giv- 
ing the  poor  fellow  decent  burial,  Jim  would  tell 
me  to  have  no  uneasiness  on  that  score  as  all 
matters  could  be  settled  without  difficulty.  I  did 
not  ask  him  for  any  explanations. 

Two  days  before  Christmas,  about  noon,  the 
invalid  breathed  his  last.  Prior  to  his  death  he 
had  told  us  of  his  history.  The  story  of  his  life 
was  so  similar  to  that  of  many  others  in  the  far 
west  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  it  here.  The 
only  thing  of  importance  to  us  was  that  he  had  no 
relatives  living  to  his  knowledge. 

We  moved  the  body  to  the  mill  building  and 
properly  prepared  it  for  its  last  resting  place. 
Then  the  question  of  a  grave  being  uppermost  in 
my  mind,  I  mentioned  the  matter  to  Jim.  He 
answered  quickly  that  we  would  neither  need  a 
grave  or  a  coffin.  On  asking  for  an  explanation. 
Jim  then  unbosomed  himself,  as  it  were,  and 
expressed  himself  something  as  follows :  "I  have 


32  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

told  you  all  along  that  this  fellow  was  loaded  with 
quicksilver,  and  there  is  no  telling  how  much  silver 
and  gold  there  is  in  him.  Now  my  idea  is  to  cre- 
mate his  body  and  see  what  we  will  find."  As  I 
had  always  been  in  favor  of  cremation  as  a  means 
of  disposing  of  the  dead,  when  Jim  informed  me 
that  either  of  the  large  retorts  in  the  mill  would 
easily  hold  the  body,  I  considered  that  perhaps 
after  all  this  would  be  as  humane  as  any  other 
method  of  disposing  of  the  remains.  The  thought 
of  recovering  any  precious  metals  from  the  body 
I  would  not  allow  to  enter  my  mind.  Jim  said 
that  he  would  attend  to  all  the  details  of  the  cre- 
mation; all  he  asked  of  me  was  to  assist  him  in 
placing  the  body  in  the  retort. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  day  after  Christ- 
mas we  deposited  the  remains  in  a  six-foot  retort 
and  Jim  carefully  luted  the  door  and  lighted  the 
fire  in  the  furnace  underneath.  I  returned  to  the 
office,  feeling  that  all  was  done  that  could  be  done 
under  the  circumstances.  Jim  stayed  at  the  mill 
closely,  and  one  time  during  the  afternoon  when  I 
went  out  to  take  exercise  I  found  him  busy  adding 
more  fuel  to  the  fire.  In  fact,  except  to  come  over 
for  his  evening  meal,  I  did  not  see  Jim  again  that 
day,  but  he  was  asleep  in  his  bed  when  I  awoke 
the  next  morning. 

It  was  nearly  noon  when  Jim  arose.  He  had 
some  breakfast  and  said  but  little,  soon  going  out 
to  the  mill.  About  3  o'clock  he  came  in  and  lacon- 
ically said:  "All  is  ready;  can  you  come  out  and 
see  the  job?"  I  immediately  followed  him  and 
we  went  direct  to  the  retort  room.  The  door  of 
the  retort  in  which  we  had  placed  the  dead  man 
was  open.  At  Jim's  suggestion  I  looked  inside 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  33 

and  noticed  a  long,  thin  slab  of  some  material 
which  at  the  time  I  did  not  realize  its  nature.  Jim 
seized  a  steel  rod  and  turned  the  substance  over; 
then  I  realized  that  it  was  metal.  "  Just  as  I  told 
you,"  said  Jim,  "that  poor  fellow  was  full  of 
metal  as  well  as  quicksilver.  Now,  you,  as  assayer, 
will  have  to  determine  how  much  we  have  made  by 
this  cleanup." 

We  carefully  removed  the  contents  of  the  retort 
and  separated  the  ashes  of  the  dead  from  the 
metal.  The  dust  of  our  departed  guest  we  placed 
in  a  receptacle  and  the  metal  we  carried  to  the 
office.  This  entire  proceeding  so  worked  on  my 
Serves  ithat  I  did  not  have  the  heart  to  do  !any 
more  that  day. 

Next  morning,  however,  I  decided  to  get  through 
with  the  job.  The  bullion  melting  furnace  was 
fired  up  and  the  mass  of  metal  melted  and  poured 
into  a  mold,  allowed  to  cool,  weighed  and  assayed. 
The  weight  of  the  entire  mass  was  a  trifle  over 
60  ounces.  On  making  a  bullion  assay  the  results 
obtained  were  that  the  brick  of  metal  contained  41 
ounces  of  pure  gold  and  18  ounces  of  silver.  In 
figuring  our  profit,  we  calculated  gold  at  $20  per 
ounce  and  silver  at  $1;  consequently  we  were 
ahead  $838,  less  use  of  material  which  we  would 
settle  for  with  the  manager  when  that  individual 
returned  in  the  spring. 


34  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

WANTED:    A  PARTNER. 


Few  people  appear  to  realize  that  that  which 
they  may  be  looking  for  may  lie  close  at  hand.  If 
they  could  grasp  this  fact,  probably  a  number 
would  not  go  chasing  off  to  Alaska,  to  Mexico  and 
other  out  of  the  way  places  for  gold  and  many 
other  metals. 

It  is  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  everyone 
will  believe  the  following  account  of  a  peculiar 
gold  discovery  made  within  a  day's  horseback 
ride  of  Spokane,  but  it  is  not  improbable  that 
many  will  put  money  into  a  company  if  one  is 
formed  to  harvest  the  yellow  metal  that  this 
account  is  written  to  tell  about. 

During  the  year  1891,  as  many  who  are  yet  liv- 
ing in  Spokane  may  remember,  I  was  a  resident 
of  this  city,  and  took  quite  an  interest  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  mining  resources  that  surround 
Spokane  on  all  sides.  I  sometimes  made  journeys 
to  distant  points  on  business  relating  to  mines  and 
mining,  and  for  some  unaccountable  reason 
always  had  the  feeling  that  there  was  something 
nearer  home  that  I  would  fall  up  against. 

It  came  about  that  in  the  early  summer  of  the 
year  named,  an  old  Colorado  friend  of  mine  came 
to  Spokane  and  we  renewed  a  friendship  of  many 
years  before,  when  we  had  been  employed  in  the 
same  assay  office  for  a  big  silver  reduction  com- 
pany in  the  Centennial  state.  We  visited  several 
mining  sections  together  and  I  was  glad  to  know 
that  he  was  pleased  with  the  outlook  and  many  of 
his  predictions  as  to  the  future  development  and 
output  of  the  country  have  been  verified. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  35 

My  friend's  name  was  Charley  Baird,  or  at 
least  that  is  the  name  I  will  give  him  in  this  story. 
He  was  thoroughly  up  to  date  on  assaying  and 
metallurgical  chemistry,  and  always  carried  with 
him  on  trips  chemicals  for  testing  and  determin- 
ing any  substance  that  might  strike  his  fancy.  I 
have  been  associated  with  a  number  of  chemists 
in  the  many  years  that  I  have  lived  in  the  West, 
and  I  believe  that  Charley  Baird  was  one  of  the 
best. 

Having  some  spare  time  during  the  hot  months 
of  the  summer,  we  decided  to  take  an  excursion, 
or  roughing  trip,  for  a  time  and  see  what  we  could 
find.  In  1889  I  had  been  out  to  the  east  of  Mount 
Carlton,  between  that  mountain  and  Newman  lake 
to  examine  some  copper  finds,  and  I  proposed  to 
Charley  that  we  hide  ourselves  away  in  the  jungles 
of  that  unexplored  region  for  a  time.  The  copper 
claims  had  been  abandoned,  but  as  I  had  found 
that  that  metal  existed  there  in  small  quantity, 
although  the  discoverers  had  believed  it  to  be 
gold,  there  was  a  possibility  that  we  may  stumble 
onto  something. 

Accordingly  in  August,  with  a  riding  horse 
each  and  two  large  pack  horses  loaded  with  all 
that  they  could  carry  in  the  way  of  provisions, 
bedding  and  the  few  tools  that  we  might  require, 
we  left  the  city  behind  us  and  headed  for  Mount 
Carlton.  The  first  night  we  camped  at  Phillips 
meadows  and  the  next  day  at  noon  were  on  the 
summit  of  the  peak  which  is  about  the  loftiest 
point  visible  from  Spokane  of  any  of  the  sur- 
rounding mountains. 

"We  came  down  on  the  south  side  of  the  moun- 
tain and  made  our  camp  for  the  second  night, 


36  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

amusing  ourselves  until  asleep  in  watching  the 
lights  of  Spokane  away  in  the  distance.  Even  in 
that  day  the  city  lights  showed  up  well,  but  it  must 
be  a  far  grander  view  now  with  the  immense 
increase  of  population,  of  business  houses  and 
homes. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day  we  were 
on  the  march.  Our  endeavor  was  to  push  east- 
ward toward  Newman  lake,  which  could  be  sighted 
from  our  camp,  but  we  could  see  that  the  whole 
country  was  covered  with  brush  and  fallen  timber 
which  would  cause  traveling  to  be  extremely  diffi- 
cult. As  we  had  two  sharp  axes  in  our  outfit,  and 
we  knew  how  to  use  them,  it  was  decided  to  push 
on  our  way  no  matter  if  progress  would  be  slow 
and  tedious. 

Cutting  brush,  chopping  our  way  through  fallen 
logs  and  helping  our  animals  over  dangerous 
places,  kept  us  busy  for  two  days,  and  by  the* 
second  evening  after  leaving  our  camp  on  the  side 
of  Mount  Carlton  we  estimated  that  we  had  made 
12  miles. 

About  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  up  on 
the  side  of  a  low  hill,  we  saw  quite  a  distance  below 
us  a  small  lake.  For  a  long  distance  from  the 
shore  on  the  side  of  the  lake  next  us  there  was  no 
brush,  only  large  trees  far  apart,  while  the  ground 
was  covered  with  a  carpet  of  luxurious  grass.  In 
fact,  a  beautiful  natural  park  was  there  and  for 
that  spot  we  bent  our  energies  so  as  to  have 
plenty  of  fodder  for  our  animals,  who  were  begin- 
ning to  show  signs  of  giving  out  on  account  of 
their  hard  work. 

It  was  late  in  the  evening  when  we  reached  the 
shore  of  the  small  lake.  We  soon  had  the  saddles 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  37 

and  packs  off  our  horses;  the  animals  were  not 
hobbled  or  roped  in  any  manner,  as  we  knew  they 
would  not  stray  from  us.  We  noticed  that  when 
our  horses  went  to  the  lake,  instead  of  drinking, 
they  sniffed  at  the  water  and  then  walked  to  a 
small  stream  a  short  distance  away,  where  they 
quenched  their  thirst.  This  action  caused  us  to 
investigate,  and  we  found  that  the  water  of  the 
lake  was  extremely  salty.  As  there  was  plenty 
of  fresh  water  in  the  brook  as  well  as  in  several 
convenient  springs,  the  fact  of  having  found  a 
salt  lake  did  not  discommode  us.  After  a  hearty 
meal  and  a  few  smokes  we  rolled  up  in 
our  blankets  and  were  soon  in  the  land  of  dreams. 

Next  day  Charley  and  I  put  in  the  time  pros- 
pecting. We  found  any  number  of  small  stringers 
of  quartz,  all  carrying  free  gold  but  not  in  suffi- 
cient quantity  to  make  paying  mines.  These 
"splinters,"  as  Charley  called  them,  were  In  the 
soft  granite  formation  and  each  one  we  could 
easily  trace  into  the  lake.  In  our  investigations 
we  traveled  the  entire  circumference  of  the  body 
of  salt  water  and  noted  perhaps  a  hundred  of 
these  minute  fissures,  all  ending  at  the  water's 
edge,  as  far  as  we  could  determine. 

That  night  as  we  sat  by  the  camp  fire  Charley 
was  in  a  deep  study  and  had  scarcely  anything  to 
say.  I  presumed  that  he  was  thinking  out  some 
problem  and  did  not  molest  the  thread  of  his 
thoughts  by  asking  questions.  Finally,  when  bed 
time  came,  he  said :  i  t  It  is  barely  possible  that  we 
have  stumbled  onto  a  wonderful  discovery,  and 
tomorrow  I  am  going  to  satisfy  myself  whether 
an  idea  that  I  have  is  correct  or  not. ' ' 


A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 


HE    HAD    HIS    CASE    OF    CHEMICALS    OUT' 

Next  morning  when  I  awoke  I  found  that 
Charley  had  been  up  for  some  time.  He  had  his 
case  of  chemicals  out  and  was  intent  on  an  experi- 
ment that  absorbed  his  entire  attention.  I  saw 
that  it  was  water  that  he  was  working  with,  and 
naturally  surmised  that  he  was  testing  the  fluid 
from  the  lake  for  some  purpose ;  in  this  theory  it 
developed  that  I  was  correct. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  39 

As  we  had  brought  two  rifles  with  us  and  had 
also  revolvers  and  plenty  of  ammunition,  I  pro- 
posed to  Charley  that  I  put  in  the  time  looking  for 
game,  as  we  had  noticed  that  there  was  plenty  of 
all  kinds  in  that  out  of  the  way  place  but  we  had 
been  so  busy  with  our  explorations  that  we  had 
not  given  any  attention  to  securing  fresh  meat  for 
our  larder.  Consequently  I  left  Charley  alone  at 
the  camp  and  strolled  off  into  the  hills. 

I  was  not  long  in  finding  out  that  the  woods 
were  alive  with  all  kinds  of  game  that  are  found 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  I  saw  both  black 
and  white  tailed  deer,  elk,  caribou,  and  nearly  all 
varieties  of  bear — in  fact,  in  all  my  years  of 
roughing  it,  I  had  never  been  in  a  section  that 
was  better  supplied  with  game  of  all  kinds.  After 
several  hours  of  rambling,  I  sized  up  a  fine  white- 
tailed  deer  which  I  concluded  was  about  the 
weight  that  I  cared  to  carry  back  to  camp,  and  I 
brought  him  down  with  a  shot  from  the  rifle.  Early 
in  the  evening  I  was  back  with  Charley  preparing 
our  supper  of  venison  steaks  and  bannocks. 

Charley  was  in  a  brown  study  all  the  evening, 
but  just  before  time  for  us  to  roll  up  in 
our  blankets  for  the  night,  he  loosened  up  his  con- 
versational powers  and  remarked :  *  *  I  have  been 
busy  the  entire  day  experimenting  with  that  salt 
water  and  I  find  that  it  averages  a  little  over  one 
grain  of  gold  to  the  cubic  foot.  I  have  taken 
samples  from  several  places  in  the  lake  and  find 
that  the  values  are  uniform.  I  have  precipitated 
quite  a  quantity  of  the  gold  and  find  from  tests 
that  it  can  be  recovered  about  chemically  pure. 
Now  in  the  morning  I  want  you  to  help  me  meas- 
ure the  lake  so  that  we  can  arrive  at  the  number 


40  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

of  cubic  feet  that  it  contains,  and  after  that  a 
simple  calculation  will  tell  whether  there  is 
enough  of  the  metal  in  solution  to  justify  us  in 
providing  ways  and  means  for  its  recovery." 

After  breakfast  we  began  our  labors  of  measur- 
ing the  body  of  salt  water.  We  found  that  the 
average  length  was  1,300  feet ;  width,  450  feet,  and 
depth,  10  feet.  To  secure  this  last  measurement 
it  was  necessary  to  construct  a  raft,  but  this  was 
not  difficult,  as  we  had  axes  and  there  was  plenty 
of  timber  handy. 

When  evening  came  again  Charley  became 
absorbed  with  figures.  After  a  time  he  announced 
the  results  of  his  calculation  and  said:  "I  find 
that  there  are  58,500,000  cubic  feet  of  water  in  the 
lake.  As  I  have  thoroughly  demonstrated  that 
there  is  one  grain  of  gold  to  the  cubic  foot,  and 
as  there  are  480  grains  to  the  ounce,  consequently 
there  are  121,875  ounces  of  gold  in  solution  in  that 
lake.  As  this  gold  can  be  recovered  pure,  I  will 
figure  it  at  $20  an  ounce;  this  gives  a  total  value 
of  $2,437,500  which  is  ours  for  the  taking." 

It  was  some  time  before  I  could  realize  that  I 
was  all  at  once  worth  one  and  a  quarter  million 
dollars  nearly,  for  I  was  entitled  to  a  half  inter- 
est in  the  find.  While  thinking  on  this  sudden 
windfall  of  riches,  Charley  interrupted  my 
thoughts  by  saying:  "Now  the  question  is,  how 
are  we  going  to  recover  this  wealth?  The  proper 
agents  for  precipitating  are  not  at  hand,  and  it 
would  be  next  to  impossible  to  get  them  in  here  as 
there  are  no  roads  and  the  quantity  required  is  so 
great  that  I  will  try  and  figure  the  problem  out 
after  I  go  to  bed." 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  41 

Early  the  following  morning  I  was  awakened 
by  Charley  shouting, ' 1 1  have  found  it.  7  l  i  Found 
what?"  I  asked,  as  I  rubbed  my  eyes  in  an 
endeavor  to  become  thoroughly  awake.  "  Found 
a  way  to  precipitate  that  gold,"  replied  Charley 
as  he  bounded  out  of  bed  and  began  to  light  the 
camp  fire.  While  we  were  eating  our  breakfast, 
Charley  unbosomed  himself  as  follows:  "You 
know  that  the  metallurgist  who  has  charge  of  a 
smelter  must  go  to  nature  for  his  chemicals,  while 
the  assayer,  who  smelts  ores  on  a  very  much 
smaller  scale,  can  procure  his  reducing  agents  at 
a  drug  store.  In  this  proposition  we  are  like  the 
metallurgist  at  the  smelter — we  must  look  to 
nature  for  the  means  to  get  this  gold  into  the  form 
that  we  can  handle  it. 

"If  we  could  find  a  body  of  the  sulphate  of  iron 
within  reach,  and  dump  that  into  the  lake,  we 
could  precipitate  the  chloride  of  gold  in  metallic 
form,  but  as  we  can't  very  well  do  that,  we  must 
do  so  with  sulphureted  hydrogen.  This  will  pre- 
cipitate the  gold  in  the  form  of  a  sulphide,  and 
that  will  necessitate  the  refining  of  the  product 
and  the  transportation  to  a  smelting  center  to  have 
this  work  done,  yet  as  there  are  about  two  and 
one-half  millions  in  gold  now  in  the  lake,  and  as 
the  salt  water  is  continually  taking  up  more  of  the 
metal  from  these  small  stringers  of  gold  that  run 
into  the  water,  I  figure  that  it  will  pay  to  build 
a  road  into  this  country  and  we  will  keep  from 
starving  by  raking  in  a  million  or  so  a  year  from 
our  harvest  of  gold. ' ' 

Then  I  butted  in  and  said,  "But,  Charley,  how 
are  you  going  to  generate  your  sulphureted  hydro- 
gen?" "Oh,  that's  dead  easy,"  remarked 


42  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

Charley.  " Haven't  you  been  telling  me  that  the 
country  hereabouts  was  full  of  game?  Don't  you 
remember  enough  about  your  chemistry  to  know 
that  the  decomposition  of  an  animal  body  will 
generate  sulphureted  hydrogen?  Why,  we  will 
start  in  and  slaughter  a  few  hundred  of  these  bear 
and  other  large  animals ;  we  will  let  them  rot  here 
by  the  side  of  the  lake  and  when  the  decaying  pro- 
cess is  at  its  height,  we  will  tow  them  out  and  have 
them  located  at  different  points  over  the  water  so 
that  the  sulphureted  hydrogen  that  they  give  off 
will  do  our  work  and  the  gold  will  settle  to  the 
bottom." 

After  talking  the  matter  over  thoroughly  it  was 
decided  to  try  the  experiment.  It  was  an  easy 
matter  to  slaughter  the  animals,  but  the  question 
of  getting  the  carcasses  down  to  the  lake  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  and  be  provided  for.  In 
the  first  place,  harness  was  a  necessity  so  that  two 
of  our  horses  could  be  utilized  in  hauling  the  ani- 
mals that  we  would  kill.  We  went  out  that  after- 
noon and  killed  two  large  grizzly  bears,  which  we 
skinned,  and  their  hides,  cut  into  strips,  made  two 
fair  sets  of  harness — hence  one  difficulty  was 
overcome.  Charley  advanced  another  idea  which 
was  acted  on  at  once.  We  killed  three  deer  and 
placed  their  carcasses  across  the  lake  opposite 
our  camp ;  these  attracted  the  bears  at  night  and 
we  had  great  sport  shooting  the  huge  beasts  by 
moonlight  without  leaving  the  comfortable  quar- 
ters that  we  had  provided  for  ourselves  by  this 
time. 

Between  the  animals  that  we  killed  during  the 
day  while  out  on  our  hunting  trips  and  those  that 
responded  to  our  rifle  shots  at  night,  in  a  week  we 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


43 


THE    STENCH    HAD    BECOME    UNBEARABLE 


44  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

had  sufficient  meat,  according  to  Charley's  calcu- 
lations, to  precipitate  all  the  gold  in  solution  in 
the  lake. 

Any  one  who  has  ever  sniffed  sulphureted 
hydrogen,  knows  that  the  odor  is  the  same  as  that 
of  a  badly  decomposed  egg.  As  the  weather  was 
now  getting  very  hot,  and  the  stench  from  our 
harvest  of  wild  animals  had  about  become  unbear- 
able, we  began  to  plan  the  finish  of  the  job  for  the 
time  being.  To  escape  the  offensive  odor,  we 
moved  our  camp  to  a  bench  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  water's  edge  and  thus  avoided  the 
unpleasantness  during  the  night  time. 

One  evening  after  Charley  had  been  thinking 
for  some  time,  he  said:  " There  is  one  matter 
that  has  been  giving  me  some  concern,  but  I 
believe  that  I  have  found  a  solution  to  the  prob- 
lem. If  we  were  to  dump  our  meat  into  the  salt 
water,  it  would  become  pickled  and  the  effect  that 
we  are  after  would  be  spoiled.  Now  I  propose 
that  we  tie  each  carcass  to  a  log  so  that  it  will  not 
sink,  and  while  we  are  absent  the  work  of  reclaim- 
ing the  gold  will  be  going  on."  I  immediately 
acted  on  the  suggestion  and  commenced  to  cut  a 
number  of  deer  hides  into  strips  for  the  purpose 
of  fastening  the  carcasses  to  the  logs. 

It  required  two  days  of  hard  work  to  cut  and 
float  sufficient  logs,  then  two  days  more  to  anchor 
our  novel  generators  over  the  lake  so  that  each 
portion  would  receive  its  proper  amount  of  sulph- 
ureted hydrogen.  By  watching  a  few  of  the  car- 
casses as  they  were  at  rest,  we  noticed  the  clouded 
effect  in  the  water  and  knew  that  the  soluble  gold 
was  settling  to  the  bottom  of  the  lake.  As  this 
job  was  a  disagreeable  one  on  account  of  the 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  45 

strong  odor,  we  were  very  glad  when  it  was 
finished. 

Preparations  were  then  made  to  return  to  Spo- 
kane and  raise  capital  to  build  a  wagon  road  to 
the  lake,  dig  a  ditch  so  as  to  drain  off  the  water, 
collect  our  gold  sulphide  and  transport  it  to  a 
refinery.  We  figured  that  the  business  of  recov- 
ering gold  from  the  lake  would  be  a  perpetual 
occupation,  as  after  one  batch  was  cleaned  up  we 
could  dam  up  the  discharge  and  set  the  process  in 
motion  again.  In  the  meantime  we  would  endeavor 
to  find  a  quantity  of  iron  sulphate  and  precipitate 
the  gold  from  its  solution  in  metallic  form.  In 
making  our  calculations  as  to  expense,  we  saw  that 
we  did  not  have  the  finances  to  carry  out  our 
plans.  It  would  be  necessary  to  enlist  one  or  more 
persons  who  would  advance  the  necessary  money. 
Besides  all  this,  it  was  necessary  to  secure  title  to 
our  find  to  prevent  others  from  encroaching  on 
our  rights.  With  these  matters  fully  discussed 
and -thoroughly  understood,  we  returned  to  Spo- 
kane, arriving  here  in  the  latter  part  of  Sep- 
tember. 

We  were  not  in  this  city  long  until  it  became  evi- 
dent that  we  could  do  no  business.  A  wonderful 
real  estate  boom  was  on,  and  no  one  would  talk 
anything  else  but  acreage  and  town  lots.  Every 
man  we  approached  wanted  to  sell  us  an  acreage 
tract,  a  town  lot  or  a  plot  in  the  nearest  ceme- 
tery. We  soon  saw  that  there  was  no  use  of  wast- 
ing our  efforts  against  such  odds,  and  as  we  did 
not  wish  to  divulge  too  much  about  our  find,  we 
soon  ceased  making  any  effort  to  secure  assistance 
from  others,  and  would  try  to  rustle  the  money 
ourselves. 


46  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

About  the  time  we  had  come  to  this  conclusion, 
the  world  was  startled  with  the  announcement  that 
rich  silver-lead  mines  had  been  struck  in  the 
Slocan  district,  in  British  Columbia.  As  there 
was  really  no  danger  of  any  one  molesting  our 
latent  wealth,  out  to  the  east  of  Mount  Carlton, 
we  decided  to  await  the  advent  of  spring,  hie  our- 
selves to  the  Slocan  and  make  a  stake;  then  we 
could  develop  our  gold-laden  lake  and  be  inde- 
pendent of  every  one. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1892  Charley  and  I  joined 
the  rush  to  the  Slocan.  For  a  time  we  prospered 
in  a  reasonable  manner,  and  had  our  plans  so 
well  along  that  we  felt  confident  of  making  quite 
a  cleanup  by  the  middle  of  1893,  but  unfortunately 
the  panic  of  June  of  that  year  came  along  and 
swept  us  off  our  feet  in  a  financial  way,  the  same 
as  it  did  thousands  of  others. 

In  the  changes  that  were  brought  about,  Charley 
and  I  became  separated.  In  the  quest  of  a  live- 
lihood and  the  desire  to  make  the  long  desired 
stake,  so  as  to  return  to  our  find  and  reap  our 
reward,  we  drifted  far  and  wide.  Some  years  ago 
a  brother-in-law  of  Charley's  died  in  an  eastern 
state,  leaving  Charley's  sister  a  large  sum  of 
ready  money.  The  lady,  who  was  an  invalid,  sent 
for  Charley  to  manage  her  affairs.  As  he  was 
getting  well  along  in  years,  and  the  possibility  of 
accumulating  anything  of  value  in  mining  ven- 
tures looked  uncertain  to  him,  he  gladly  accepted 
his  sister's  offer,  and  has  since  been  touring  the 
world  in  search  of  pleasure  and  health. 

Recently,  from  a  noted  resort  in  the  old  world, 
on  the  banks  of  the  beautiful  Mediterranean,  came 
a  letter  from  my  old  friend  Charley.  This  letter 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  47 

informed  me  that  he  felt  the  years  that  had  been 
creeping  on,  and  that  he  realized  that  his  end  was 
not  far  off.  He  had  no  kin  that  needed  assistance 
from  him,  and  that  I  was  sole  heir  to  his  interest 
in  the  gold-filled  lake  in  the  jungles  that  lie  to  the 
east  of  Spokane 's  majestic  mountain  peak. 

The  story  has  been  told.  The  second  chapter 
is  ready  to  be  commenced.  Who  is  going  to  share 
with  me  in  the  wealth  that  now  only  requires  col- 
lecting. Unfortunately,  I  am  still  poor.  The 
means  to  recover  all  this  gold  are  still  lacking. 
Who  will  be  the  first  to  provide  the  sinews  of  war 
that  this  golden  stream  may  be  diverted  to  our 
pockets  and  coffers?  I  am  open  for  suggestions 
and  offers.  The  only  request  that  I  have  to  make 
to  the  investing  public  is  that  all  do  not  apply  at 
once.  When  the  second  chapter  of  this  history  is 
written,  who  will  be  the  one  that  has  his  share  of 
that  two  and  one-half  millions  that  only  awaits  a 
claimant? 


WEALTH  IN  A  GLACIER. 


To  fully  comprehend  the  following  story,  it  is 
necessary  to  carry  you  back  a  few  years  and  relate 
some  incidents  which,  although  strictly  true,  have 
but  a  small  bearing  on  the  subject. 

It  was  on  the  first  day  of  August,  1904,  that  I 
disembarked  from  the  ocean  steamer  Santa  Clara 
at  the  town  of  Seward,  in  Eesurrection  Bay, 
Alaska.  Here  the  passengers  found  a  beautiful 
townsite  eighteen  miles  from  the  grand  entrance 
to  this  historic  harbor,  said  to  be  the  finest  on  the 


48  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

Pacific  coast  and,  although  new  to  us,  had  been 
the  point  where  the  Eussians  had  built  some  of 
their  largest  ships  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
years  before. 

One  short  year  previous  to  the  time  of  which  I 
write,  a  "  native "  family  had  been  the  only  perma- 
nent residents  of  the  bay  for  eighteen  years,  their 
nearest  neighbors  being  ninety  miles  distant  over- 
land. This  family  consisted  of  Mrs.  Mary  Lowell, 
an  Alaskan  native  who  had  at  one  time  married 
an  American  coast  trader  of  that  name,  and  her 
family  of  two  sons  and  two  daughters,  the 
daughters  having  been  married  some  time  before 
this,  and  it  is  of  one  of  this  lady's  sons-in-law  that 
this  narrative  has  to  deal. 

It  may  be  well  to  state  that  the  cause  for  the 
existence  of  the  town  of  Seward  was  the  fact  that 
it  was  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Alaska  Cen- 
tral railway,  whose  promoters  had  planned  to 
build  from  that  point  on  the  Northern  Pacific 
ocean  to  the  Tanana  river,  something  near  500 
miles  distant.  The  possibility  of  this  railway 
opening  up  new  mining  fields,  was  the  real  cause 
of  my  casting  my  lot  in  that  faraway  spot,  and  I 
afterward  installed  an  assay  office  there,  but  as 
an  introduction  to  the  country  while  awaiting 
development,  I  carried  with  me  a  complete  news- 
paper plant  and  had  the  satisfaction  for  one  year 
of  having  the  only  newspaper  in  a  region  six  hun- 
dred miles  wide  by  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  length. 

It  was  while  collecting  data  for  my  publication 
that  I  met,  and  became  acquainted  with  Herman 
Switzer,  my  companion  in  the  experience  of  which 
this  story  tells.  Mr.  Switzer  was  a  son-in-law  of 
Mrs.  Lowell,  the  pioneer  lady  spoken  of.  He  told 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  49 

me  his  story.  He  was  born  and  reared  in  Ger- 
many ;  had  the  advantage  of  a  splendid  education, 
but  was  of  a  roving  disposition.  He  had  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States  and  followed  the  Star 
of  Empire  until  he  reached  the  Pacific  and  had 
then  drifted  north.  For  a  long  time  he  had  worked 
in  the  gold-quartz  mines  around  Juneau,  and 
finally  joined  a  crowd  of  prospectors  who  investi- 
gated the  mineral  possibilities  of  Eesurrection 
Bay  without  success.  All  of  his  companions  had 
returned  to  civilization  except  two,  and  the  mag- 
net that  held  them  in  the  wilds  was  their  marriage 
to  the  two  daughters  of  Mrs.  Lowell.  Herman 
was  a  loyal  husband  to  the  eldest  child  in  this  iso- 
lated but  naturally  bright  family. 

Before  the  onward  march  of  civilization  in  that 
region  began,  Herman,  like  a  number  of  others 
had  established  the  business  of  raising  foxes  for 
their  fur,  and  had  taken  possession  of  an  island 
out  in  the  ocean  westward  of  Prince  William 
Sound,  where  he  established  several  families  of 
these  animals  and  once  a  year  gathered  his  har- 
vest of  blue  fur,  blue  being  the  color  of  the  foxes 
that  he  raised.  It  was  but  natural  that  Herman 
would  ask  me  to  accompany  him  on  one  of  his 
trips  when  he  visited  the  island  to  feed  and  look 
after  the  welfare  of  his  charges.  To  navigate  the 
salt  water  of  the  bay  and  open  sea,  Herman  had 
provided  himself  with  a  serviceable  sloop,  about 
forty  feet  in  length,  with  six-foot  beam.  At  this 
time  i;the  vessel  was  propelled  by  sails,  but  h*e 
afterward  added  steam  power.  The  boat  was 
known  as  the  Biana,  possibly  named  after  some 
old  sweetheart. 


50  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

It  was  a  bright,  crisp  morning  about  the  middle 
of  October,  when  we  set  sail  and  started  with  the 
out-going  tide  down  the  bay.  We  must  make 
eighteen  miles  and  pass  through  the  narrow 
entrance  before  chancing  our  lives  on  the  open  sea 
in  such  a  frail  craft.  The  entrance  to  the  harbor 
was  on  the  extreme  end  of  the  Kenai  peninsula, 
and  once  outside  there  was  no  shelter  for  many 
miles,  should  a  storm  overtake  us,  unless  we  found 
a  snug  harbor  along  the  rugged  coast. 

With  the  tide  aiding  us,  we  made  rapid  prog- 
ress down  the  harbor  and  on  account  of  Herman's 
skill  in  tacking  we  passed  through  the  narrow 
passage  safely  and  were  soon  sailing  on  the  deep 
blue  waters  of  the  ocean  with  our  prow  pointing 
toward  the  island,  but  our  objective  point  was  not 
in  sight,  as  it  was  fully  fifty  miles  away.  "I  don't 
like  the  looks  of  the  weather, ' '  remarked  Herman ; 
"I  am  afraid  that  we  will  have  a  blow,  and  it  may 
be  too  much  for  our  boat. ' '  Not  being  a  sailor,  I 
allowed  him  to  use  his  judgment  on  the  matter  of 
navigation,  although  I  was  at  the  tiller  while  he 
handled  the  sails. 

As  the  wind  was  blowing  out  of  Prince  William 
Sound,  we  were  compelled  to  beat  against  it  and 
our  tacking  often  brought  us  dangerously  close  to 
the  treacherous  rocks  that  jutted  out  from  the 
shore.  Finally,  after  heading  the  vessel  away 
from  the  coast  Herman  said:  "I  believe  I  will 
chance  it,"  and  he  shook  out  the  reefs  in  the  can- 
vas and  our  craft  almost  leaped  toward  the  distant 
horizon.  We  had  progressed  probably  twenty 
miles  from  land  when,  without  the  slightest  warn- 
ing, a  huge  squall  struck  us  and  for  a  time  it 
appeared  as  though  we  would  become  subjects  of 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  5 1 

old  Neptune,  but  by  following  closely  Herman's 
instructions  and  handling  the  tiller  properly  while 
he  furled  the  sails,  we  managed  to  keep  afloat 
although  we  were  tossed  about  as  a  chip  would  be 
in  that  rough  sea.  Happening  to  glance  ahead  I 


HURRAH,  WE  ARE  SAVED 

noticed  two  black  objects  on  the  crest  of  a  monster 
wave  and  called  Herman's  attention  to  them. 
"Hurrah,  we  are  saved, "  he  cried  so  loudly  that 
I  could  easily  hear  him  above  the  roar  of  the  tem- 
pest, "those  are  native  fishermen  in  their 
bidarkas,  and  if  we  can  turn  and  follow  them  they 
will  lead  us  to  safety. ' '  It  was  but  a  few  moments 
until  the  two  men  in  their  moose  skin  boats  were 
passing  us  and  waving  frantically  with  their  pad- 
dles for  us  to  follow  in  their  wake.  Fortunately 
we  turned  on  the  crest  of  an  immense  wave  and, 
keeping  the  two  Eussians  in  sight,  within  an  excit- 
ing hour,  the  wind  being  in  our  favor,  we  drew  our 


52  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

breath  easier  in  a  quiet  harbor  where  there  was 
scarcely  a  ripple,  while  the  waves  were  mountain 
high  out  in  the  open. 

After  taking  his  bearings,  Herman  remarked: 
"Well,  if  this  isn't  Days  Harbor.  I  did  not  think 
of  this  as  a  shelter  after  we  left  Eesurrection 
Bay."  Then  I  remembered  of  hearing  of  Days 
Harbor  while  studying  the  geography  of  the  coun- 
try. It  is  a  large  bay  extending  a  long  distance 
inland;  its  entrance  being  about  fifteen  miles 
southeast  of  Eesurrection  Bay.  As  we  were  safe 
for  the  time  being,  and  the  Eussians  who  had  so 
kindly  piloted  us  to  this  haven  had  landed  on  a 
beach  a  mile  or  more  from  the  point  where  we  had 
dropped  our  anchor,  we  went  into  our  diminutive 
cabin  and  prepared  a  meal.  All  day  long  we 
could  hear  the  waves  lashing  the  rocks  on  the 
outside  and  we  decided  to  spend  the  night  where 
we  were. 

Next  morning  while  we  were  at  breakfast,  Her- 
man, who  appeared  to  be  in  a  brown  study,  said : 
"I  have  put  in  several  years  in  this  part  of  the 
country  and  have  prospected  considerable  without 
finding  anything  of  value,  so  I  propose  we  spend  a 
day  or  two  in  this  bay  and  see  if  we  can  locate 
anything."  As  I  had  bought  an  assay  outfit  from 
C.  M.  Fassett  of  Spokane  and  was  quite  anxious 
to  cover  everything  of  a  mining  nature  that  had 
any  possibility  of  being  a  mine,  I  was  only  too 
well  pleased  to  do  as  my  companion  suggested.  We 
seated  ourselves  in  the  small  skiff  that  was  tied 
to  the  after  part  of  the  sloop  and  rowed  to  the 
shore  where  we  put  in  the  time  for  an  hour  or  more 
but  did  not  find  any  indication  of  mineral.  Then 
we  returned  to  the  vessel,  raised  the  anchor  and 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  53 

sailed  up  the  bay.  We  were  both  awed  by  the 
majesty  of  the  immense  live  glaciers  that  we 
passed  on  our  way.  Huge,  towering  masses  of  ice 
rising  hundreds  of  feet  above  the  water  and  some 
of  them  being  several  miles  in  extent  along  the 
shore  line.  Although  there  were  glaciers  in  plenty 
on  Eesurrection  Bay,  and  we  had  grown  used  to 
viewing  them,  yet  they  were  not  so  grand  and 
majestic  as  those  that  we  were  passing.  As  we 
saw  a  number  of  small  icebergs  ahead  that  had  at 
one  time  been  a  part  of  a  mammoth  glacier  that 
we  were  approaching,  we  decided  to  anchor  near 
the  shore  and  spend  the  night  where  we  were. 

Early  the  following  morning  we  were  up  and 
ready  for  business.  Our  craft  lay  quite  near  the 
beach  and  at  the  edge,  as  it  were,  of  one  of  the 
large  glaciers.  On  account  of  the  bergs  tumbling 
about  we  towed  the  Biana  to  the  lee  of  a  small 
cape  jutting  out  into  the  bay.  Then  we  entered 
the  skiff  and  crowded  the  small  craft  among  the 
floating  masses  of  ice  until  we  came  to  a  point 
about  the  center  of  the  glacier  where  it  towered 
several  hundred  feet  above  our  heads.  On  look- 
ing upward  we  noticed  that  this  great  mass  of 
solid  ice,  weighing  tens  of  thousands  of  tons,  over- 
hung the  water.  If  a  plumb  line  was  dropped  from 
the  top  it  would  strike  the  water  at  least  twenty- 
five  yards  out  in  the  bay.  This  fact  caused  us  to 
have  a  creepy  feeling,  but  we  controlled  our  emo- 
tions and  kept  on  with  our  explorations.  Finally 
we  landed  on  a  shelf  at  the  water's  edge  and  pro- 
ceeded along  the  ice  on  foot ;  in  a  short  time  we 
came  to  where  two  tunnels  had  been  excavated  by 
the  action  of  the  waves  for  at  least  fifty  feet  into 
the  body  of  the  glacier.  While  I  was  casting  my 


54 


A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 


weather  eye  toward  the  entrance  to  the  bay  for 
fear  a  storm  might  overtake  us,  I  was  aroused  and 
startled  by  an  exclamation  from  Herman. 

"My  God,  look  here,"  he  exclaimed.  "Did  you 
ever  see  so  much  gold?"    I  hastened  into   the 


MY  GOD!      LOOK  HEBE!      DID  YOU  EVER  SEE   SO 
MUCH  GOLD? 

tunnel  where  he  had  gone  and  gazed  in  the  direc- 
tion that  he  was  pointing.  Was  I  dreaming!  I 
pinched  myself  to  ascertain  if  I  were  awake. 
Frozen  in  that  mass  of  eternal  ice  was  a  windrow 
of  gold  nuggets,  varying  in  size  from  a  pea  to  a 
loaf  of  bread.  After  we  had  recovered  from  our 
astonishment  we  traveled  the  length  of  the  tunnel 
and  found  that  this  channel  of  virgin  gold  con- 
tinued. We  estimated  the  width  and  height  of  the 
deposit,  and  allowing  for  the  refraction  of  the 
light  magnifying  the  mass  of  metal,  we  calcu- 
lated that  there  were  three  car  loads  in  sight. 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  55 

Coming  out  of  this  tunnel  we  entered  the  other  one 
about  twenty  feet  distant  and  from  this  opening 
we  could  also  view  this  wonderful  mass  of  wealth. 

How  to  recover  these  millions  was  the  upper- 
most question  in  our  minds.  We  climbed  to  the 
top  of  the  glacier  and  found  that  a  huge  crevasse 
existed  running  parallel  to  its  face.  This  was  the 
cause  of  the  great  volume  of  ice  overhanging  the 
water.  To  explode  only  one  charge  of  dynamite 
would  cause  the  millions  of  tons  to  drop  into  the 
bay  and  it  would  probably  carry  all  the  precious 
metal  with  it. 

To  cut  the  story  short,  we  spent  two  days  at 
the  scene  of  our  find  endeavoring  to  figure  out 
some  method  whereby  we  could  recover  the  enor- 
mous riches  that  fate  had  allowed  us  to  gaze  upon, 
but  no  solution  to  the  dilemma  could  we  find.  How- 
ever, we  agreed  to  keep  the  matter  a  secret  until 
such  a  time  that  fortune  might  favor  us.  As  the 
Biana  floated  out  into  the  bay  and  the  sails 
swelled  with  a  favoring  breeze  and  we  were  at 
last  homeward  bound,  I  thought :  for  a  third  of  a 
century  I  have  been  searching  in  the  wilds  of  the 
far  West  for  gold  and  now  that  I  have  found  it, 
when  will  the  time  come  that  I  can  grasp  and 
enjoy  its  blessings? 

It  has  been  over  two  years  since  last  I  was  in 
Alaska.  Herman  has  regularly  made  lonely  pil- 
grimages in  the  Biana — now  a  steam  sloop — to  our 
gold-laden  glacier.  A  letter  from  him  just  received 
gives  the  cheering  intelligence  that  at  last  the 
overhanging  mass  of  ice  has  dropped  into  the  salt 
water  of  Days  Harbor  and  that  our  stupendous 
deposit  of  wealth  is  intact  and  only  waits  us  to 
gather  it.  So  loyal  is  he  that  he  will  not  disturb 


56  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

an  ounce  until  I  join  him  and  we  together  collect 
the  millions  that  fate  had  stored  in  that  strange 
treasure  house  for  us  for  centuries.  So  back  to 
the  frozen  Northland  again  I  must  go  on  the  next 
steamer,  and  when  I  return  from  the  journey  I 
trust  that  those  who  are  now  my  friends  will  con- 
tinue to  be  such. 


UNDERNEATH  SPOKANE. 


That  there  are  stranger  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  than  were  ever  dreamed  of,  will  be  manifest 
to  the  readers  of  the  narrative  which  follows  when 
they  have  finished  its  perusal.  That  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  wonders  that  exist  under  our  feet  here 
in  the  city  of  Spokane,  and  also  under  a  consider- 
able portion  of  the  surrounding  country,  have 
been  known  to  the  writer  for  two  decades,  but  few 
are  aware. 

At  the  time  the  explorations  told  of  in  the  suc- 
ceeding chapters  were  made,  Spokane  was  but  a 
straggling  village  compared  with  its  present  popu- 
lation. At  that  time  it  would  not  have  been  the 
best  part  of  wisdom  to  organize  a  company  and 
develop  a  show  place  which  would  be  one  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world,  and  the  greatest  attraction 
that  the  Inland  Empire  ever  had,  or  any  other 
place  for  that  matter.  Now  that  the  city  has  a 
large  population,  that  it  is  a  great  railway  center, 
and  that  the  surrounding  country  is  well  settled 
and  connected  with  the  city  with  steam  and  trolley 
lines,  those  who  have  the  matter  in  hand  deem  the 
time  opportune  to  prepare  the  public  for  that 
which  is  coming. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  5 7 

About  all  the  old-timers  of  Spokane  are  aware 
that  the  writer  first  made  his  advent  in  that  which 
was  known  as  Spokane  Falls  over  twenty  years 
ago.  In  those  days  publications  were  not  so 
plenty  in  the  overgrown  village  which  aspired  to 
be  a  city  as  they  are  at  this  time,  and  writers  were 
scarce.  However,  the  Eeview  and  the  Chronicle 
were  morning  and  evening  dailies,  though  not  so 
large  and  prosperous  as  at  this  date. 

The  writer  at  the  time  alluded  to  was  city  editor 
of  the  evening  publication,  and  as  the  town  was 
small,  naturally  had  about  the  entire  population 
on  his  acquaintance  list.  With  this  explanation 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  heard  many 
strange  stories  of  the  country  from  those  who  had 
been  here  long  before  he  came. 

One  evening  while  resting  in  my  room  from  the 
labors  of  the  day,  as  city  editors  at  that  time 
acted  as  reporters,  telegraph  editors  and  did  the 
" heavy"  work  when  the  chief  was  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  ardent,  I  answered  a  knock  at  my  door 
and  a  perfect  stranger  entered.  After  the  usual 
civilities,  the  stranger  stated  that  he  was  aware 
of  my  position  and  had  learned  that  I  had  a  repu- 
tation as  a  descriptive  writer  and  he  desired  to 
enlist  my  services  in  a  project  which  would  be  of 
material  benefit  to  both  of  us.  I  replied  by  telling 
him  that  I  had  recently  come  from  the  Coeur 
d'Alene  mining  region,  and  as  I  had  only  been 
moderately  successful  there,  I  was  open  to  any 
proposition  that  gave  a  reasonable  show  of  reward 
as  long  as  it  was  honorable. 

"You  are  the  man  I  want,"  said  the  stranger, 
"and  if  you  will  give  me  your  time,  I  will  explain 


58  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

the  business  in  detail,  but  first  I  want  your  prom- 
ise upon  honor  that  you  will  keep  secret  that  which 
I  tell  you  until  such  time  as  I  give  you  permission 
to  write  or  talk." 

"I  must  know  something  more  about  your  busi- 
ness before  making  any  promises, ' '  I  replied. 

"Well,"  continued  the  stranger,  "I  have  found 
one  of  the  most  wonderful  caverns  here  at  Spo- 
kane Falls  that  was  ever  heard  of." 

"Cave  stories  are  old  and  worn  out,"  I 
answered,  "and  I  don't  see  how  I  could  write  any- 
thing on  that  line  that  would  interest  any  one,  so 
if  you  have  nothing  better  to  offer  perhaps  we  had 
better  end  the  interview."  My  companion  delib- 
erated a  few  moments  and  then  remarked:  "If 
you  will  give  me  your  attention  for  a  reasonable 
time  I  am  satisfied  that  I  can  convince  you  that 
you  will  be  interested  in  that  which  I  have  to  tell. ' ' 

Placed  in  readable  shape,  following  is  the  nar- 
rative as  told  me  by  the  person  whom  I  had  never 
met  before  that  evening: 

"I  am  a  Scotch-Canadian.  My  grandfather 
and  father  before  me  were  factors  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  company.  You  are  no  doubt  aware  of  the 
history  of  this  old  trading  concern,  which  was 
chartered  in  England  in  1670  and  covered  the 
western  portion  of  North  America  with  their  trad- 
ing posts,  and  are  in  existence  to  this  day  in  the 
far  north  as  fur  gatherers  and  in  more  settled 
portions  of  British  America  in  the  general  mer- 
cantile lines.  At  one  time,  previous  to  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel  being  settled  on  as  the  dividing  line 
between  this  country  and  Canada,  the  Hudson's 
Bay  company  had  posts  and  settlements  as  far 
south  as  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river.  This 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  59 

information  will  aid  you  in  believing  that  which  is 
to  follow. 

"  While  my  grandfather  was  in  charge  of  a  post 
on  the  Columbia  river  upward  of  a  century  ago, 
he  frequently  made  trips  up  in  this  section  of  the 
country  for  the  purpose  of  buying  fur  from  the 
Indians.  Somehow  he  became  very  friendly  with 
the  Spokane  tribe,  acquired  their  language  and 
always  had  their  confidence.  It  was  on  account  of 
this  friendly  feeling  that  one  old  chief  told  him 
of  a  legend  that  had  been  handed  down  in  the 
tribe  from  time  immemorial  regarding  a  wonder- 
ful cavern  that  existed  under  the  spot  where  this 
city  is  now  being  built.  My  grandfather  trans- 
mitted this  information  to  my  father,  and  he  in 
turn  to  me,  with  the  promise  that  I  would  some 
day  investigate  and  ascertain  exactly  what  the 
facts  were.  As  you  are  no  doubt  aware,  we  chil- 
dren of  the  old  Hudson 's  Bay  factors  are  always 
well  educated,  no  matter  whether  our  mothers 
were  white  or  red.  My  mother  was  a  white  woman, 
however,  and  I  have  attended  the  best  schools  in 
Canada  and  in  Europe,  and  I  might  add  that  my 
profession  is  that  of  geologist.  I  decided  on  this 
profession  for  two  reasons ;  one  is  that  it  appealed 
to  me  and  the  other  that  it  would  aid  me  in  the 
search  for  the  wonderful  cavern  that  had  so  inter- 
ested my  forbears. 

"It  is  now  about  one  year  since  I  came  to  this 
place,  and  beside  studying  the  geological  forma- 
tion and  conversing  with  the  Indians,  I  have  been 
searching  for  the  entrance  to  the  cavern.  In  my 
geological  research  the  task  has  been  very  easy; 
the  subsidiary  formation  of  all  this  section  is 
granite.  At  one  time,  ages  ago,  there  was  an 


60  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

immense  flow  of  lava.  To  find  the  crater  puzzled 
me  for  a  time,  but  I  finally  located  it  as  the  bed  of 
Coeur  d'Alene  lake.  This  outflow  of  lava  filled 
the  Spokane  and  other  valleys  to  a  great  extent, 
and  when  cooled  the  water  flowed  on  top  of  the 
basalt — as  this  form  of  lava  is  called,  and  the  ero- 
sion and  scoring  process  of  time  has  left  the  sur- 
face as  it  is  today.  This  flow  did  not  all  come  at 
once,  however.  There  may  have  been  ages  between 
the  eruptions  of  the  volcano  which  is  now  hidden 
by  the  waters  of  Coeur  d'Alene  lake.  One  mass 
of  lava  would  have  plenty  of  time  to  cool  before 
another  came,  hence  a  portion  of  the  old  flow 
would  be  eroded  away  in  the  meantime.  As  this 
point  is  about  30  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  the 
location  of  the  crater,  the  lava  had  cooled  consid- 
erably before  flowing  that  distance.  Evidently 
the  action  of  the  water  had  scooped  out  an 
immense  cavity  here,  and  when  subsequent  flows 
came,  in  the  process  of  cooling,  a  wall  was  built 
around  this  cavity,  finally  covering  it  and  greatly 
by  this  agency  the  cavern  of  which  I  have  been 
speaking  was  formed.  Still  other  masses  of  lava 
came,  increasing  the  thickness  of  the  roof,  and 
finally  the  greater  portion  of  the  waters  pouring 
out  of  the  lake  flowed  over  the  surface  of  the 
basalt,  and  the  falls  of  Spokane  were  cut  out  of 
the  formation  on  account  of  the  material  being 
softer  here. 

"In  my  association  with  the  Indians  of  the  Spo- 
kane tribe  I  have  only  found  one  who  has  entered 
this  cavern  that  exists  under  our  feet.  This  Indian 
was  with  a  party  who  partially  explored  these  sub- 
terranean regions  when  he  was  a  mere  lad,  all  the 
other  members  of  the  party  having  passed  away. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  61 

U«  was  born  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  otaj 
one  of  the  benches  below  where  Monroe  street 
crosses  the  stream.  As  it  is  customary  with 
Indians  to  name  their  progeny  from  some  incident, 
this  child  is  known  as  "All-The-Time-Boar,"  sug- 
gested to  his  parents,  no  doubt,  by  the  sound  of 
the  falls.  I  have  arranged  with  this  Indian  that 
he  is  to  accompany  us  on  the  journey  of  explora- 
tion." Then  I  broke  in  with  the  remark  that  if 
we  were  to  have  a  companion  with  such  a  lengthy 
name  that  we  would  change  it  to  a  single  word  and 
suggested  "Jim"  as  a  substitute,  to  which  my 
companion  consented;  hence  throughout  this  nar- 
rative our  dusky  partner  will  be  known  by  that 
title. 

After  absorbing  all  that  the  Scotch- Canadian 
had  told  me,  I  informed  him  that  I  would  under- 
take the  trip  provided  there  was  reasonable  assur- 
ance that  we  would  not  get  lost  and  perish  in  this 
underground  cavity. 

"Oh,  that  has  all  been  arranged,"  he  assured 
me;  "I  have  made  a  study  of  electricity  and,  with 
the  help  of  Mr.  Fiskin  of  the  electric  plant  here, 
have  constructed  portable  electric  lights  which 
each  of  us  will  carry.  The  storage  batteries  are 
of  sufficient  strength  to  last  for  all  the  time  that 
we  will  be  under  ground.  We  can  easily  carry  all 
the  provisions  and  bedding  that  we  will  require,  I 
have  made  out  a  complete  list  of  everything  nec- 
essary. 

"Now,  as  it  is  practically  arranged  that  you  are 
to  accompany  me  on  this  trip  of  exploration,  or 
discovery,  whichever  it  may  be  termed,  I  will  give 
you  a  little  information,"  added  the  Scotch- 
Canadian.  "I  spent  many  weeks  in  an  endeavor 


62 


A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 


THE  STICK  MET  WITH  NO  RESISTANCE 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  63 

to  find  the  entrance  to  this  cavern.  Jim,  as  we 
have  decided  to  call  him,  remembered  that  the 
opening  was  on  the  stream  west  of  here  called 
Hangman  creek,  the  exact  spot  he  could  not  locate. 
In  my  search  I  always  carried  a  shotgun  with  me 
as  small  game  was  plentiful.  One  day  late  last 
fall  when  the  first  snow  was  on  the  ground  I  shot 
at  and  wounded  a  rabbit,  tracing  the  creature  by 
its  trail  of  blood  in  the  snow,  I  found  that  it  had 
taken  refuge  under  a  fallen  tree.  In  trying  to 
dislodge  the  animal  by  poking  with  a  stout  stick,  I 
noticed  that  the  stick  met  with  no  resistance  after 
being  shoved  under  the  log  about  three  feet.  The 
next  day  I  returned  with  a  pick  and  shovel  and 
inside  an  hour  had  made  an  opening  large  enough 
to  admit  me  to  that  which  I  had  been  so  long  seek- 
ing. With  only  a  candle  for  a  light,  I  explored 
the  cavern  for  some  distance  and  I  can  assure  you 
that  you  will  find  much  of  interest  in  the  journey 
which  you  propose  to  take  with  me." 

Before  parting  for  the  night  we  made  out  a  list 
of  supplies  that  would  be  necessary  for  the  trip 
which  we  decided  would  last  at  least  a  week.  This 
list  included  blankets,  provisions,  tobacco — as  all 
were  inveterate  smokers — two  pounds  of  candles, 
in  case  our  electric  lights  failed  us;  a  revolver 
eJach  with  plenty  of  catridges,  and,  in  case  ofl 
accident  or  sickness,  a  full  quart  of  fine  brandy 
was  added.  This  quart  of  liquor  figured  conspicu- 
ously in  two  thrilling  episodes  that  will  be  told 
of  in  succeeding  chapters  of  this  story. 

A  few  evenings  later  Mr.  Macleod,  as  that  is  the 
name  of  the  gentleman  who  was  to  be  my  white 
companion  on  one  of  the  most  interesting  ex- 
periences that  I  ever  had  during  over  a  third  of 


64  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

a  century's  life  in  the  far  west  and  north,  again 
called  at  my  lodgings  and  brought  with  him  our 
Indian  partner.  The  Siwash  did  not  object  to 
his  change  of  name  and,  as  both  of  we  white  people 
spoke  the  Chinook  jargon  fluently,  we  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  getting  along  with  the  aborigine.  It 
might  be  stated  in  passing  that  Jim  is  a  familiar 
figure  on  the  streets  of  Spokane  to  this  day  and, 
although  nothing  could  induce  him  to  unseal  his 
lips  regarding  the  experiences  of  we  three  per- 
sons, yet  he  always  greets  the  writer  with  a  pleas- 
ant "  Kla  how  ya"  and  a  knowing  nod  when  we 
pass  on  the  street.  Many  wonder  how  old  Jim 
manages  to  exist ;  perhaps  when  this  story  is  fin- 
ished those  who  have  watched  this  shambling 
figure  on  the  streets  day  by  day  will  be  wiser  in 
this  regard. 

At  10  o'clock  one  night  in  the  early  summer  of 
1888,  the  three  of  us  left  my  lodgings  and  boarded 
a  horse  car  on  Eiverside  avenue.  There  were  no 
other  passengers  except  a  young  man  and  woman, 
and  as  these  two  persons  were  apparently  so 
wrapped  up  in  each  other  they  paid  no  attention 
Do  us.  In  due  time  we  arrived  at  the  end  of  the 
line  in  Browne's  addition,  where  we  scrambled 
down  the  steep  hillside  and  after  traveling  what 
appeared  quite  a  distance  on  account  of  the  dark- 
ness, the  roughness  of  the  ground  and  the  under- 
brush, we  halted  and,  as  Mr.  Macleod  had  cached 
the  pick  and  shovel  nearby,  we  soon  cleared  away 
the  dirt  and  gravel  and  entered  that  which  will 
now  soon  become  one  of  the  greatest  attractions 
for  people  of  the  world  that  anyone  ever  dreamed 
of.  We  banked  up  the  entrance  from  the  inside 
with  loose  earth  so  that  no  possible  passerby 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


/ 


'JIM,"    A   FAMILIAR  FIGURE    ON   RIVERSIDE    AVENUE 


66  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

would  notice  the  opening.  As  our  electric  lights 
were  all  aglow  and  lighted  up  this  subterranean 
vault  beautifully,  we  at  once  set  out  on  our  voyage 
of  discovery.  We  could  sleep  when  we  felt  like  it, 
darkness  was  easily  brought  about  by  extinguish- 
ing our  lights,  the  sun  did  not  penetrate  to  those 
depths.  We  were,  to  a  certain  extent,  as  far  re- 
moved from  our  fellow  men  as  though  we  were  at 
one  of  the  poles  of  this  earth. 

CHAPTER    II. 

Naturally  it  took  us  some  time  to  become 
accustomed  to  our  surroundings.  For  my  part 
I  had  been  far  underground  in  many  of  the  large 
mines  of  the  west,  but  the  cavernous  depths  of 
those  were  caved  out  by  the  hand  of  man.  In  this 
it  was  different,  nature  had  performed  this  stu- 
pendous work  and,  although  I  could  not  fully 
realize  its  extent,  yet  there  was  a  feeling  of  vast- 
ness  and  uncertainty  that  could  not  be  overcome. 

Soon  we  took  up  our  line  of  march.  The  way 
led  down  a  gradual  slope  over  sand  and  small 
boulders.  In  silence  we  proceeded  for  perhaps 
a  half  hour,  when  the  floor  became  level.  Then 
Mr.  Macleod  said:  "We  will  now  camp  for  the 
night  where  I  have  stored  the  other  part  of  the 
outfit  that  we  are  to  take  with  us."  Turning 
sharply  to  the  right,  we  soon  came  to  a  heap  of 
goods  that  reminded  me  of  the  necessities  that  a 
party  collects  when  preparing  to  go  out  on  a  pros- 
pecting expedition. 

"Here  is  a  sectional  skin  boat  and  a  paddle,1' 
said  Mr.  Macleod.  "We  are  liable  to  find  bodies 
of  water  and  a  vessel  will  come  handy."  There 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  67 

were  extra  blankets,  provisions  in  condensed  form 
and  other  articles  which  added  to  that  which  we 
had,  caused  us  to  be  thoroughly  equipped  for 
quite  a  long  journey.  Before  retiring  for  the 
night  we  separated  the  stores  and  made  them  up 
into  three  different  bundles  so  that  each  man 
would  carry  his  share.  Then  we  rolled  up  in  our 
individual  blankets,  extinguished  the  lights  and 
prepared  for  sleep. 

It  was  sometime  before  I  could  come  under 
the  influence  of  the  drowsy  god.  The  strangeness 
of  the  surroundings  and  the  possibilities  of  the 
discoveries  we  might  make  on  our  expedition  kept 
my  brain  active  until  well  along  into  the  night. 
Finally  when  I  did  give  way  to  slumber  I  was 
filled  with  strange  dreams. 

Next  morning  we  were  awakened  by  Mr.  Mac- 
leod's  voice,  telling  us  it  was  time  to  be  astir.  He 
had  only  his  electric  light  going,  but  had  prepared 
us  a  cold  breakfast.  As  there  was  no  water  ex- 
cept that  which  we  had  in  our  bottles,  we  did  not 
have  the  luxury  of  a  wash.  When  the  simple  meal 
was  finished  each  man  took  his  pack  on  his  back 
and  we  began  another  stage  of  our  odd  journey. 

Taking  his  compass,  Mr.  Macleod  started  on  a 
northwest  course.  We  had  not  traveled  far  when 
we  began  to  hear  a  distant  rumbling.  ' '  The  falls, ' ' 
remarked  our  guide  as  he  pointed  to  the  left.  As 
we  proceeded  farther  the  sound  grew  more  dis- 
tinct until  it  became  a  roar  and  we  had  to  speak 
quite  loudly  to  be  heard.  At  times  we  halted  and 
held  our  lamps  above  our  heads  endeavoring  to 
see  the  roof  of  the  cavern,  but  at  no  time  was  it 
in  view.  Until  10  o'clock  we  traveled  over  com- 
paratively level  ground  covered  with  a  fine  sand 


68  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

or  dust,  but  came  to  a  slight  declivity.  Following 
down  the  slope  a  few  yards  our  journey  by  foot 
was  stopped  by  a  body  of  water  which  stretched 
out  before  us  as  far  as  our  combined  lights  ex- 
tended. "Now  for  the  boat,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Mac- 
leod  as  he  proceeded  to  place  the  three  portions 
of  the  craft  together.  Inside  of  thirty  minutes 
the  vessel  was  launched.  We  stored  all  our  outfit 
in  the  boat  and  took  our  places,  Mr.  Macleod  in 
the  bow,  Jim  in  the  stern  and  myself  with  the 
paddle  in  the  center.  After  paddling  quite  a 
distance  from  the  shore  and  finding  no  current, 
we  decided  that  it  was  a  lake  on  which  we  were 
afloat.  However,  we  kept  on  a  direct  course  and 
in  about  three-fourths  of  an  hour  landed  on  a 
gravelly  beach  on  the  north  shore.  About  midway 
of  the  lake  the  roar  of  the  falls  to  the  west  of  us 
was  nearly  deafening,  but  by  the  time  we  landed 
the  noise  was  more  like  a  distant  rumble,  showing 
that  our  route  was  away  from  them. 

After  having  removed  all  our  effects  from  the 
boat,  Mr.  Macleod  informed  us  that  we  would 
make  this  spot  a  camping  place  for  the  remainder 
of  the  day  on  account  of  the  water.  Jim  could 
remain  in  charge  but  we  two  white  men  would 
continue  on  with  our  explorations. 

At  noon  we  disposed  of  a  hearty  meal,  washed 
down  with  the  clean  and  palatable  water  from  the 
lake.  At  one  o'clock  Mr.  Macleod  and  I  again 
started  toward  the  northeast.  Finally  the  noise 
made  by  the  mighty  falls  of  the  Spokane  river 
practically  died  out  so  that  we  could  converse  with 
ease;  then  Mr.  Macleod  outlined  his  plans  for  the 
afternoon.  "North  of  the  Spokane  river,"  he 
said,  "you  have  no  doubt  noticed  that  there  is  an 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  69 

immense  bed  of  gravel  and  boulders,  south  of  the 
gravel  bluffs  about  two  miles  north  of  the  river 
there  is  a  depression  about  one  mile  in  width. 
This  depression  was  at  one  time  the  bed  of  the 
Pend  d'Oreille  river  when  that  stream  flowed  from 
the  lake  of  that  name  down  the  Spokane  valley, 
but  its  course  was  diverted  by  some  convulsion  of 
nature  and  the  outlet  to  the  Columbia  changed  to 
a  point  where  the  forty-ninth  parallel  crosses  that 
stream.  I  have  panned  the  gravel  and  sands  on 
the  surface  of  this  deposit  left  by  this  ancient 
stream,  but  have  never  found  any  gold.  I  have 
a  theory,  however,  that  vast  quantities  of  gold 
will  be  found  on  the  granite  bed  rock,  and  it  is  to 
demonstrate  this  theory  that  we  are  now  making 
the  trip  this  afternoon." 

As  I  could  offer  no  objection  we  continued  on 
our  journey.  About  two  o'clock  a  wall  of  basalt 
stopped  further  progress.  We  were  at  the  north 
side  of  the  cavern  evidently,  but  we  turned  and 
traveled  in  an  easterly  direction  until  a  rapidly 
flowing  and  wide  stream  caused  us  to  again  stop. 
"This  creek  comes  from  that  gravel  bed,"  said 
my  guide.  "If  we  can  only  walk  along  its  bank 
I  pan  soon  find  out  if  there  is  any  placer  gold; 
deposited  which  it  has  brought  down  from  the 
main  body  of  gravel. ' ' 

By  careful  examination  we  saw  that  this  stream 
had  burst  through  the  basalt  wall  which  separated 
the  cavern  that  we  were  in  and  the  ancient  bed 
of  the  stream.  Although  the  task  was  difficult, 
and  many  were  the  close  calls  that  we  had  from 
tumbling  into  the  rushing  water  while  crawling 
over  and  around  boulders,  we  finally  came  to 
where  a  quantity  of  gravel  and  sand  had  lodged 


7°  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

on  a  rim  of  the  stream.  Mr.  Macleod  produced 
a  small  prospecting  pan  and  immediately  began 
washing  the  gravel.  When  thoroughly  washed 
he  glanced  in  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  and  holding 
it  up  to  me  shouted,  "Eureka,  we  have  found  it." 
I  examined  the  contents  and  from  my  extensive 
experience  around  placer  mines  was  thoroughly 
capable  of  making  an  estimate.  There  was  fully 
fifty  cents  worth  of  gold  in  the  pan.  Then  we  took 
turns  in  washing.  After  two  hours  or  more  we 
had  what  afterward  proved  to  be  over  $20  worth 
of  dust  and  small  nuggets.  "Probably  this  is  one 
of  the  most  extensive  placer  deposits  in  the 
world, "  remarked  my  companion.  "Just  think," 
he  continued,  "we  haven't  washed  a  cubic  yard 
and  there  must  be  an  ounce  in  this  poke.  * ' 

As  it  was  now  getting  late  in  the  afternoon  we 
decided  to  return  to  camp  and  rest  for  the  night. 
We  stopped  a  while  at  the  point  where  the  creek 
entered  the  main  cavern  and  panned  some  of  the 
wash,  when  we  were  rewarded  by  finding  a  number 
of  coarse  and  fine  colors.  Then  following  our 
trail  we  made  for  the  spot  where  we  had  left  our 
Indian  friend  and  outfit.  We  came  to  the  lake 
but  saw  no  signs  of  a  light.  Hunting  around  for 
a  time  our  lamps  shone  upon  the  pile  of  effects 
and  the  boat  pulled  up  on  the  beach,  but  where 
was  Jim?  A  little  further  search  and  we  had  him 
located.  He  was  sound  asleep.  His  lamp,  though 
still  burning,  was  buried  some  inches  deep  in 
the  sand ;  our  brandy  bottle,  half  empty,  lay  beside 
the  Siwash.  The  truth  dawned  upon  us :  Jim  was 
gloriously  and  hopelessly  drunk. 


JIM    WAS    GLORIOUSLY    AND    HOPELESSLY    DRUNK 


72  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

That  evening  as  we  rested  Mr.  Macleod  outlined 
many  of  his  plans  for  the  future  should  our  ex- 
plorations develop  as  he  anticipated.  Said  he,  in 
part:  " Spokane  some  day  will  be  a  wonderful 
mining  center.  At  nearly  every  point  of  the  com- 
pass, but  in  many  cases  miles  distant,  there  is 
every  evidence  of  great  mineral  wealth  in  gold, 
silver,  copper,  lead  and  no  doubt  many  other 
metals.  As  new  people  settle  here  they  will  ascer- 
tain the  value  of  and  develop  these  resources.  No 
one  now  would  believe  that  mineral  riches  of  un- 
known quantity  exist  beneath  the  feet  of  those 
who  tread  the  surface  over  our  heads.  In  my  ex- 
plorations I  have  found  evidences  of  cassiterite, 
or  tin  ore  oxide,  east  on  Moran  prairie,  and  before 
we  leave  this  cave  we  must  see  if  the  veins  extend 
down  to  these  depths.  By  some  means  the  gold 
deposit  that  we  found  today  will  be  worked  but 
I  have  not  yet  figured  out  whether  it  will  be 
advisable  to  sink  from  the  surface  and  hoist  the 
material  or  to  extract  the  metal  by  sluicing  opera- 
tions down  here.  There  are  possible  complica- 
tions to  be  looked  into.  Surface  rights  may  cut 
a  figure,  but  eventually  these  matters  will  be  taken 
care  of." 

Next  morning  when  we  arose  Jim  joined  us  but 
the  effects  of  his  debauch  were  plain  to  be  seen. 
As  Mr.  Macleod  drew  the  brandy  bottle  from  a 
pocket  in  his  coat  and  poured  out  a  couple  of  table- 
spoonfuls  in  a  cup  and  handed  it  to  our  dusky 
companion,  I  realized  two  things:  the  Scotch- 
Canadian  would  see  that  Jim  and  the  brandy  were 
not  left  alone  again  and  that  this  small  portion 
was  for  Jim  to  sober  up  on.  Jim  gulped  down  the 
spirits  and  remarked:  "Pi-ah  chuck  hy-as 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  73 

kloshe,"  which  is  Chinook  for  "Fire  water  is  very 
good."  Little  then  did  I  dream  that  Mr.  Mac- 
lead's  action  in  taking  care  of  our  brandy  would 
be  ihe  means  of  saving  our  lives  and  aiding  us  in 
returning  to  the  bright  sunlight  of  the  outer 
world. 

Once  more  we  all  embarked  in  the  boat  and 
paddled  along  the  north  shore  of  the  lake.  When 
we  came  to  the  point  where  the  stream  that  we 
had  encountered  the  afternoon  before  emptied  into 
the  lake  it  was  necessary  to  keep  well  off  the  shore 
so  as  not  to  be  swamped  by  the  choppy  water.  At 
this  point  Mr.  Macleod  produced  a  hook  and  line 
and  some  bait  and  tried  his  luck  at  angling.  The 
result  was  that  he  caught  several  fish  that 
resembled  mountain  trout.  On  examining  them 
closely  it  could  be  seen  that  they  were  blind,  or 
at  least  had  no  eyes.  As  we  were  without  means 
of  making  a  fire  to  cook  them,  they  were  thrown 
back  in  their  native  element.  Finally  a  landing 
was  effected  on  the  south  side  of  the  lake  where 
a  rest  was  enjoyed  and  a  lunch  eaten.  "We  are 
now  not  far  from  where  those  tin  deposits  are," 
said  Mr.  Macleod.  "I  propose  that  we  put  in  the 
afternoon  exploring  in  this  neighborhood  and  see 
what  we  will  find."  The  three  of  us  started  off 
in  a  southeasterly  direction  and  made  fair  head- 
way, although  we  frequently  had  to  go  around 
both  granite  and  basalt  boulders.  Finally  the 
basalt  gave  out  and  only  granite  was  to  be  seen. 
Eventually  the  whole  floor  of  the  cavern  was  of 
granite  formation  and  we  began  to  look  for  indi- 
cations of  tin  ore.  Our  efforts  were  rewarded  and 
we  discovered  a  ledge  fully  fifty  feet  wide  on 
which  we  worked  with  the  pick  and  shovel  that 


74  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

Jim  had  carried  with  him  at  our  request.  A  num- 
ber of  samples  were  taken  which  afterward  ga'/e 
surprising  returns  when  assayed. 

"In  time,"  said  our  guide,  "some  one  else  will 
also  find  this  ore  on  the  surface  and  the  growing 
town  of  Spokane  Falls  will  have  a  great  tin  mine 
practically  at  its  back  door."  We  now  made  our 
way  back  to  the  boat,  and  it  being  late,  ^e  decided 
to  rest  for  the  night,  after  extinguishing  two  of 
our  lights,  as  they  were  giving  evidence  of  becom- 
ing dim,  and  to  be  caught  in  these  subterranean 
regions  with  nothing  but  a  dozen  candies  to  illumi- 
nate our  way  back  to  daylight  was  not  a  pleasant 
prospect. 

That  evening  as  we  smoked  our  pipes  we  talked 
over  the  plan  for  the  next  day's  explorations. 
"You  can  notice  that  there  is  quite  a  draft  here," 
remarked  Mr.  Macleod.  l  '  There  surely  is  another 
opening  to  this  cavern  some  where  east  of  Spokane 
Falls.  If  our  electric  lamps  do  not  fail  us  we 
had  better  follow  up  the  lake  or  the  stream  that 
empties  into  it  and  see  if  we  can  come  out  at  some 
other  point,  but  I  must  confess  that  I  am  a  trifle 
uneasy  about  the  lights  holding  out."  Little,  in- 
deed, did  we  have  a  premonition  of  the  hair- 
breadth escape  that  we  were  to  make  from  these 
underground  regions  when  the  lights  did  fail  us, 
but  that  exciting  experience  will  be  told  in  its 
proper  place. 

At  nine  o'clock  next  morning  we  were  again 
afloat  on  the  lake.  Proceeding  slowly  up  the  south 
shore  we  finally  heard  the  sound  of  running  water, 
and  it  was  no  great  length  of  time  until  we  came 
to  the  point  where  a  large  stream  emptied  into 
the  lake.  It  was  soon  determined  that  the  water 


;        Other  Far  Western  Stones.  75 

was  too  swift  for  us  to  navigate,  hence  we  crossed 
the  lake  and  landed  on  the  north  shore.  Here  we 
made  an  almost  fatal  error  by  not  pulling  our  boat 
far  enough  up  on  the  beach. 

Taking  a  light  lunch  with  us,  we  took  a  northerly 
direction  and  started  on  another  voyage  of  dis- 
covery. After  traveling  for  an  hour  the  blank 
wall  of  basalt  again  shut  us  off.  Mr.  Macleod  ex- 
amining closely,  we  followed  this  wall  in  an  east- 
erly direction  for  quite  a  distance  when  we  came 
to  an  opening  which  much  resembled  a  tunnel. 
Into  this  Mr.  Macleod  darted  and  after  a  while 
slowed  down  and  began  paying  the  greatest  atten- 
tion to  the  formation.  For  my  part,  having 
worked  in  foul  air  in  Colorado  mines,  I  soon 
noticed  the  effect  of  poisonous  gases  and  called 
Mr.  Macleod 's  attention  to  the  fact.  He  then 
announced  that  we  would  return  to  the  main  cav- 
ern and  recover  from  its  effects. 

The  bad  air  did  not  have  as  much  effect  on  Jim 
as  on  we  white  men,  and  for  a  time  we  suffered 
with  a  headache,  but  Mr.  Macleod  produced  the 
brandy  bottle — which  he  had  not  parted  with  since 
we  had  the  experience  of  Jim's  failing,  and  a  tea- 
spoonful  in  some  water  which  we  carried  with  us 
soon  dispelled  that  inconvenience.  Mr.  Macleod, 
who  had  been  unusually  silent  for  some  time,  then 
began  to  talk.  "I  firmly  believe, "  he  said,  "that 
we  have  stumbled  onto  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
discoveries  of  this  or  any  other  age."  My  curi- 
osity being  aroused,  I  questioned  him  on  the  sub- 
ject and  then  he  told  the  following  story: 

"All  during  my  life  I  have  made  a  study  of 
diamonds.  Unless  my  judgment  is  greatly  at  fault 
there  is  the  greatest  deposit  of  these  valuable 


76  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

stones  in  that  tunnel  that  human  eyes  ever  rested 
upon.  There  is  every  indication  pointing  to  this 
fact.  The  most  expert  chemist  cannot  tell  exactly 
how  the  diamond  is  formed,  but  he  does  know  that 
it  is  crystallized  carbon.  The  most  illiterate  char- 
coal burner  performs  one  of  the  greatest  chemical 
feats,  but  he  does  it  mechanically  and  cannot 
realize  the  agency.  He  carbonizes  wood,  and  could 
he  go  a  step  farther  and  crystallize  the  carbon  in 
a  piece  of  charcoal  the  size  of  his  head,  he  would 
produce  a  larger  diamond  than  has  ever  been 
found.  I  believe  that  the  common  bootblack  on 
the  street  corner  comes  very  near  to  showing  us 
a  method  of  crystallizing  carbon  when  he  polishes 
a  shoe.  The  blacking  that  he  uses  is  composed 
mostly  of  carbon.  By  rubbing  briskly  with  a  brush 
electricity  is  generated  and  the  small  particles 
crystallize  into  crude  but  extremely  minute  dia- 
mond crystals  which  give  our  footwear  its  polish. 
"Then  there  is  every  evidence  that  diamonds 
fall  from  the  skies  in  meteoric  showers.  My 
opinion  is  that  these  we  have  discovered  have  come 
down  in  that  manner.  People  do  not  realize  that 
the  chemical  composition  of  the  heavenly  bodies 
are  the  same  as  this  earth  and  that  the  same  pro- 
cess that  creates  a  diamond  in  a  meteor  has  equal 
power  here.  Iron  acts  as  a  solvent,  so  to  speak, 
during  the  period  of  creation  in  this  instance,  and 
in  the  lapse  of  ages  it  dissolves  by  the  action  of 
air  or  water  and  the  diamond  remains.  I  have 
visited  the  diamond  fields  of  Kimberly,  in  South 
Africa,  and  those  of  Devils  canyon  in  Arizona,  and 
am  of  the  opinion  that  we  have  more  wonderful 
deposits  here." 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  77 

Enthused  by  this  information  we  again  entered 
the  tunnel  and  despite  the  foul  air,  which  by  the 
way  did  not  effect  our  electric  lights,  we  plodded 
along.  Soon  Mr.  Macleod  seized  the  pick  and  vig- 
orously began  breaking  an  extra  hard  substance 
which  surrounded  us  on  all  sides.  Without  say- 
ing a  word  he  gathered  the  samples  together  and 
we  hastily  left  the  foul  air  of  the  chamber  behind 
us.  It  is  well  to  say  here  that  these  samples  have 
been  cut  and  polished  by  the  best  lapidaries  of 
Europe  and  the  United  States,  and  no  superior 
stones  of  the  kind  have  ever  been  seen. 

Weary  with  our  exertions,  and  each  of  us  suf- 
fering with  a  severe  headache,  we  slowly  made  our 
way  back  to  where  our  craft  should  have  been. 
But  the  boat  was  gone. 

CHAPTER   III. 

We  were  all  nearly  overcome  by  this  loss.  Then 
Jim's  light  began  to  weaken  and  soon  completely 
died,  we  examined  the  two  remaining  lamps  and 
were  horrified  to  see  that  they  were  weakening 
and  might  become  extinguished  at  any  moment. 
"All  our  candles  are  in  the  boat  with  the  other 
stuff,"  said  Mr.  Macleod;  "we  had  better  con- 
centrate our  energies  on  finding  it.  I  see  that  the 
water  has  risen  and  that  accounts  for  the  boat 
floating  away."  We  ran  up  and  down  the  beach 
and  peered  out  over  the  black  water  by  the  gleam 
of  our  fast  dimming  lights  and  would  not  take  the 
time  to  realize  the  horrible  plight  that  we  would 
be  in  should  we  be  left  in  utter  darkness  and  be 
compelled  to  suffer  a  lingering  death  in  the  black- 
ness far  removed  from  our  fellow  men.  To  swim 
the  lake  and  find  our  way  back  to  the  entrance 


78  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

would  be  an  utter  impossibility,  we  were  doomed 
unless  something  of  the  unusual  occurred.  Finally 
Mr.  Macleod 's  light  gave  out  all  at  once  and  in 
a  few  moments  mine  did  the  same.  Can  the  reader 
imagine  our  feelings  as  we  sat  there  and  the 
horror  of  our  situation  impressed  itself  upon  our 
minds  f  Mr.  Macleod  and  myself  showed  our  nerv- 
ousness, but  Jim  endured  the  strain  with  stoic 
indifference. 

"I  must  take  to  the  water  and  try  and  find  the 
boat,  that  is  our  only  chance  for  deliverance/' 
remarked  Mr.  Macleod.  I  was  about  to  enter  a 
protest  when  a  happy  thought  struck  me :  "  Hand 
me  the  brandy  bottle/'  I  cried,  quivering  with 
excitement.  Silently  Mr.  Macleod  passed  me  the 
flask  of  spirits,  I  removed  my  overshirt  and  sat- 
urated it  with  the  liquid,  then  feeling  my  way  to 
the  top  of  the  bank  I  called  to  my  companions  to 
be  ready,  that  I  would  make  a  flash  light  and  for 
each  to  look  sharply  out  in  the  lake  and  see  if  the 
light  would  reveal  the  craft  that  held  so  much  for 
us,  even  to  life  itself,  perhaps.  Striking  a  match 
and  applying  it  to  the  cloth  a  bright  light 
illuminated  the  surroundings.  We  gazed  out  over 
the  water,  each  ripple  appearing  to  gather  the 
rays  and  carry  them  farther.  "Ni-ka  nan-ich  ic- 
tas"  shouted  Jim;  our  knowledge  of  Chinook 
caused  us  to  realize  that  Jim's  perfect  vision  had 
discerned  the  boat  as  the  translation  was — "I  see 
the  things."  "Where!"  ejaculated  Mr.  Macleod. 
Jim  pointed  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  Mr. 
Macleod  without  giving  utterance  to  a  word, 
plunged  into  the  chilling  water  and  struck  out  as 
the  last  ray  of  our  light  flickered  and  expired.  In 
breathless  excitement  I  listened  to  the  sound  of 


A    BRIGHT    LIGHT    ILLUMINATED    THE    SURROUNDINGS 


8o  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

the  swimmer  as  lie  manfully  struggled  away  from 
us.  Finally  the  welcome  but  faint  sound  came  to 
us,  "I  have  found  the  boat." 

Is  it  possible  for  any  one  who  has  not  been  sim- 
ilarly situated  to  realize  our  feelings  during  these 
thrilling  moments?  I  stood  at  the  water's  edge 
and  at  intervals  lighted  a  match  to  guide  our 
brave  partner  in  fortune,  or  misfortune,  to  the 
shore.  So  frail  was  the  vessel  and  so  precious  to 
us  its  contents  that  Mr.  Macleod  made  no  effort 
to  climb  into  it,  he  took  the  painter  in  his  teeth 
and  swam  to  the  shore  towing  the  boat  and  its 
priceless  cargo  and  in  that  which  appeared  to  be 
an  awful  length  of  time,  chilled  and  almost  com- 
pletely exhausted,  reached  the  shore,  where  Jim 
and  myself  soon  had  him  stripped  and  rolled  up 
in  all  the  blankets  that  we  had  with  us.  As  there 
was  still  quite  a  quantity  of  provisions,  we  ate 
a  hearty  meal  although  we  would  only  use  one  of 
our  candles  while  assembling  the  various  articles 
of  food.  Mr.  Macleod 's  clothing  Jim  and  I  wrung 
out  and  by  bed  time'  was  sufficiently  dry  for  him 
to  again  wear  as  he  kept  wrapped  in  his  own 
blankets. 

As  we  sat  around  in  the  inky  darkness  we  spec- 
ulated on  the  best  method  of  getting  out  of  the 
cavern.  "Well,  I  will  sleep  on  that  problem  and 
give  you  my  opinion  in  the  morning,"  said  Mr. 
Macleod  as  he  prepared  to  settle  himself  for  the 
night. 

I  was  awakened  by  a  light  flashing  before  my 
eyes  and  was  informed  by  Mr.  Macleod  that  it 
was  time  to  get  up  and  that  breakfast  was  ready. 
The  candle  was  extinguished  and  we  began  eat- 
ing our  meal  in  the  total  darkness.  On  inquiring 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  8 1 

of  Mr.  Macleod  his  opinion  as  to  the  better  course 
to  pursue,  he  said:  "I  have  given  the  matter 
considerable  thought,  and  on  account  of  the 
draught  through  this  cavern  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  there  is  another  entrance  east  of  here  and 
that  we  could  find  it  in  much  less  time  than  to 
make  our  way  back  to  Hangman  creek.  Of  course 
we  have  chances  to  take.  There  may  be  streams 
to  cross  and  other  obstacles  that  cannot  be  fore- 
seen, but  if  you  are  willing  we  will  chance  it."  I 
assented  and  we  were  soon  on  our  way  with  only 
our  provisions  and  bedding,  thinking  that  the 
boat  and  tools  were  of  no  use  to  us  and  we  would 
not  be  hampered  by  carrying  any  unnecessary 
load.  Fortunately  the  three  of  us  kept  our  re- 
volvers and  ammunition,  or  this  story  would  never 
have  been  written,  as  will  develop  later  on.  Mr. 
Macleod  went  ahead  and  carried  one  candle,  which 
was  kept  alight  with  difficulty  on  account  of  the 
strong  draught. 

Stumbling  over  boulders,  fording  shallow 
streams,  bruised  and  cut  by  coming  in  contact  with 
sharp  and  jagged  rocks,  we  struggled  on  in  the  dim 
and  flickering  light,  often  having  to  stop  and  re- 
light the  candle  which  the  current  of  air  or  an  un- 
lucky fall  would  put  out,  we  continued  on  our 
journey  buoyed  up  by  the  hope  that  the  outlet 
would  be  found  and  once  more  we  would  have  the 
exquisite  pleasure  of  viewing  the  glorious  sun- 
light and  breathing  the  outside  air  again.  One  by 
one  our  candles  began  to  disappear  which  gave  us 
some  concern  for  fear  that  we  would  again  be  in 
darkness  and  have  absolutely  nothing  to  fall  back 
upon.  It  was  about  the  middle  of  the  afternoon 
when  Mr.  Macleod  halted  and  exclaimed:  "We 


82  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

are  all  tired  out  and  I  propose  that  we  rest  and 
hold  a  council  of  war,  as  military  people  would 
call  it."  Accordingly  a  few  eatables  were  gotten 
together  and  in  the  blackness  of  night  again  nour- 
ishment was  taken.  "From  all  signs  it  cannot  be 
far  to  a  vent  or  some  kind  of  an  entrance  or  out- 
let," said  Mr.  Macleod.  "All  we  can  do  is  to  keep 
going  and  take  the  chances  of  making  our  exit 
when  we  have  found  the  place. ' '  We  felt  over  our 
hoard  of  provisions  and  ascertained  that  by  the 
utmost  economy  there  was  not  enough  to  last  more 
than  another  day.  Surely  our  condition  was  get- 
ting more  and  more  desperate  and  the  time  could 
not  be  long  until  our  fate  would  be  decided.  Slow- 
ly we  puffed  our  pipes  and  endeavored  to  solve 
the  difficult  problem  that  confronted  us. 

After  a  time  we  all  arose  at  once,  the  candle  was 
lighted  and  once  more  the  journey  was  begun.  "I 
hear  a  sound  like  air  rushing  through  a  confined 
space,"  remarked  Mr.  Macleod,  who  was  in  ad- 
vance. Acting  on  this  information  our  pace  was 
quickened  and  within  half  an  hour  our  farther 
progress  was  impeded  by  a  huge  pyramid  of 
broken  basaltic  rock.  Up  this  mass  we  climbed. 
It  was  utterly  impossible  to  keep  the  candle  burn- 
ing on  account  of  the  rush  of  the  air,  but  hopes  of 
seeing  daylight  kept  us  stimulated.  "Aha,  a  glim- 
mer," shouted  Mr.  Macleod.  Jim  and  I  soon 
joined  him  on  the  top  of  the  massive  rock  pile 
and  there  above  us  through  some  small  crevices 
we  could  distinguish  the  light  of  day.  No  one 
can  imagine  with  what  joy  we  gazed  on  this  sight. 
So  overcome  were  we  with  what  we  saw,  that  no 
thought  of  breaking  the  hard  rock  that  stood  be- 
tween us  and  freedom  had  as  yet  entered  our 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  83 

minds.  Finally,  at  the  suggestion  of  my  white 
companion,  we  climbed  down  over  the  broken 
rocks  to  the  level  of  the  cavern  and  became  busy 
with  our  thoughts. 

As  the  outlet  consisted  of  a  couple  of  narrow 
crevices,  and  only  about  two  feet  of  rock  was  be- 
tween us  and  the  outer  world,  yet  the  task  of  re- 
moving that  slight  barrier  was  a  stupendous  one. 
Our  pick  and  shovel  had  been  left  behind  at  the 
lake.  We  had  no  heavier  implements  than  our 
revolvers.  How  to  break  the  rock  was  a  puzzle. 
As  I  remembered  my  experiences  as  a  miner  the 
thought  of  the  powder  in  our  cartridges  flashed  in  to 
my  mind.  But  how  to  apply  the  powder  so  that 
it  would  do  the  work,  that  was  another  problem. 
Oh,  yes,  it  again  came  to  my  mind  that  in  the  days 
before  dynamite  was  invented  we  miners  made 
cartridges  out  of  paper  which  was  well  soaped 
when  necessary  for  holes  drilled  upward  or  in 
wet  places;  yes,  that  problem  was  solved.  How 
about  fuse?  That  could  be  made  by  the  same  pro- 
cess. Then  I  explained  my  plan  to  my  com- 
panions. The  last  candle  was  lighted  and  placed 
in  a  safe  position,  Mr.  Macleod  and  Jim  began 
opening  the  metallic  shells  with  pocket  knives 
while  I  was  busy  with  the  manufacture  of  the 
cartridge  and  fuse  which  were  made  out  of  the  re- 
mains of  heavy  paper  which  came  with  the  goods 
we  had  purchased.  As  our  last  candle  died  down 
the  job  was  finished  and  we  had  as  fine  an  outfit 
for  a  heavy  blast  as  could  be  provided  under  the 
circumstances.  All  being  tired  and  nervous,  the 
task  of  exploding  the  blast  and  gaining  our  free- 
dom was  put  off  until  the  next  day. 


84  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

Without  stopping  to  breakfast  in  the  dark  next 
morning  we  climbed  up  the  rocky  slope  and  for  the 
first  time  since  setting  out  on  our  odd  journey  we 
ate  by  daylight,  although  the  sun's  rays  were  few 
that  filtered  through  those  narrow  spaces.  By  pil- 
ing up  rocks  and  standing  on  top  of  them  the 
powder  and  fuse  were  shoved  well  up  in  one  of 
the  crevices  and  small  rocks  wrapped  in  pieces 
of  blankets  were  pressed  around  the  precious  ex- 
plosive, using  one  of  our  revolvers  for  a  tamping 
iron.  When  the  fuse  was  ready  to  be  lit  I  asked 
Mr.  Macleod  for  a  match.  He  reminded  me  that 
since  his  swimming  experience  in  the  lake  as  his 
had  been  ruined  by  water  he  had  been  getting 
matches  from  me.  When  Jim  was  asked  for  a 
"piah  stick"  (match)  he  answered  " halo"  (none). 
As  I  had  used  the  last  one  in  my  possession,  I 
thought  that  this  was  the  last  stroke  to  our  mis- 
fortunes, but  happily  my  pipe  was  alight.  So, 
telling  my  companions  to  scurry  for  safety,  I  lit 
the  fuse  from  the  burning  tobacco,  scrambled  and 
rolled  down  the  declivity  and  had  just  reached  the 
bottom  when  there  was  a  loud  report  ami  the 
sound  of  falling  rocks. 

It  was  with  joyful  anticipation  that  we  again 
climbed  that  pyramid  of  jagged  basaltic  rocks. 
Heaven  be  praised!  There  was  an  opening  large 
enough  for  a  horse  to  pass  through.  Jim  and  my- 
self boosted  Mr.  Macleod  and  he  afterward  pulled 
us  to  the  surface.  The  glare  of  the  sun  was  almost 
blinding  to  us  for  a  time,  but  when  our  eyes  re- 
covered we  looked  toward  the  south  where  a  broad 
valley  through  which  a  river  and  railway  track 
were  wound  around  in  sinuous  courses.  "That 
settlement  is  Trent,  ten  miles  east  of  Spokane 


WAS   A  LOUD   REPORT    AND    THE    SOUND   OF 
FALLING  BOCKS 


86  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

Falls,"  said  Mr.  Macleod.  Examining  the  closer 
surroundings,  we  found  that  a  clump  of  trees  hid 
the  opening  that  we  had  escaped  through,  and  as 
there  were  a  number  of  loose  boulders  lying  about, 
we  closed  the  aperture  so  that  no  one  would  dis- 
cover it  unless  they  gave  the  ground  a  minute  in- 
spection. After  going  down  the  hill  to  the  river 
where  we  white  men  had  a  refreshing  wash,  we 
gave  Jim  a  dollar  and  sent  him  to  a  farm  house  for 
some  cooked  food  and  a  bottle  of  milk.  When  the 
Siwash  returned  with  these  necessities  we  had  a 
hearty  meal  and  then  kept  hid  for  the  remainder 
of  the  day  on  account  of  the  condition  of  our 
clothes.  Toward  evening  we  followed  the  railway 
track  and  sometime  after  dark  separated,  each  to 
go  his  way,  at  the  Northern  Pacific  railway  freight 
depot  in  the,  at  that  time,  small  City  of  the  Falls. 
Why  has  this  story  never  been  told  before?  the 
reader  may  ask.  The  reason  is  plain:  Shortly 
after  the  experiences  here  related  Mr.  Macleod 
was  called  to  Scotland,  and  there  he  has  been  de- 
tained, thinking  year  after  year,  as  this  city  grew, 
that  he  would  return  and  we  would  together  make 
known  to  the  world  and  prove  that  which  existed 
under  our  feet.  But  it  appears  that  he  never 
will  return.  Spokane  needs  more  attractions  to 
call  attention  to  its  possibilities,  and  while  old 
Jim  still  tramps  up  and  down  Eiverside  avenue, 
greeting  all  old  timers,  and  I  am  getting  too  ad- 
vanced in  years  to  endure  many  hardships,  I,  by 
this  means  give  to  the  world  at  large  the  knowl- 
edge which  I  acquired  over  a  fifth  of  a  century 
ago.  What  to  do  with  the  wonderful  discoveries 
that  we  made  on  our  thrilling  trip  I  do  not  know, 
but  I  am  open  to  suggestions. 


i        Other  Far  Western  Stories.  87 

THE  ENCHANTED  VALLEY. 


"We  are  sorry  that  you  gentlemen  did  not  ar- 
rive one  day  sooner, "  said  Eoy  Dudley  to  my  com- 
panion and  self  as  we  entered  the  frontier  store 
on  the  Pend  Oreille  river  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Calispel  one  day  late  in  the  fall  of  1889.  ' <  Why  t ' ' 
we  both  answered.  "Oh,  there  was  the  strangest 
old  man  here  yesterday.  He  came  down  the  Pend 
Oreille  in  a  canvas  boat  and  purchased  a  lot  of 
provisions  from  me  and  among  the  outfit  were  six 
gallons  of  syrup. "  "What  became  of  him  I"  we 
asked.  "He  loaded  everything  in  the  boat  and 
proceeded  on  down  the  river,"  replied  Dudley, 
"but  he  was  the  queerest  creature  that  I  ever  saw. 
I  cannot  imagine  how  old  he  was  and  he  would 
answer  none  of  the  questions  that  I  put  to  him." 

To  understand  the  strange  story  of  happenings 
that  are  to  follow  in  this  narrative,  it  is  necessary 
to  go  back  and  give  a  few  details  of  the  reason 
that  my  companion  and  I  had  for  being  in  this  out 
of  the  way  place  at  that  time  of  year.  I  was  the 
mining  engineer  for  a  new  railway  that  was  build- 
ing from  Spokane  to  the  north.  It  was  my  duty  to 
examine  everything  of  a  mineral  nature  in  all 
places  that  the  main  line  or  any  branch  of  this 
railway  would  possibly  reach.  The  president  had 
instructed  me  to  inspect  the  Metaline  district. 
My  companion  and  guide  was  Arthur  M.,  a  well 
known  business  man  of  Spokane,  who  was  also 
an  extensive  owner  in  mining  claims  in  that,  at 
the  time,  isolated  camp  and  he  accompanied  me  on 
the  trip.  As  Arthur,  as  I  will  call  him  in  this  re- 
cital, has  passed  to  the  great  beyond,  he  is  not 


88  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

here  to  substantiate  the  experiences  which  we 
passed  through.  We  had  left  Spokane  some  days 
before  and  at  Chewelah  had  secured  an  Indian 
guide  and  packer  to  land  us  at  Herbert  Jones' 
store,  where  the  above  conversation  took  place. 

In  answer  to  Mr.  Dudley's  information  regard- 
ing the  strange  old  man,  I  informed  him  that  in 
due  time  I  would  unravel  the  mystery  and  present 
him  with  the  facts.  At  the  time  I  had  made  up  my 
mind  that  we  would  overtake  the  old  man  and 
by  some  means  secure  his  history.  We  hired  a 
large  row  boat  from  Mr.  Dudley  which  was  to 
carry  us  down  the  swift  stream  to  the  mining  set- 
tlement where  I  was  to  attend  to  my  duties. 

The  next  morning  Arthur  and  myself  loaded  all 
our  supplies  in  the  roomy  craft  and  proceeded  on 
our  way.  As  we  floated  down  the  beautiful  wind- 
ing river,  which  at  that  time  was  but  little  known 
and  for  miles  no  white  persons  lived  along  its 
banks,  I  outlined  to  Arthur  my  plan  of  meeting 
the  old  man  and  making  a  story  out  of  him  as  I 
was  of  a  literary  turn  of  mind.  To  this  Arthur 
acceded  and  promised  me  all  the  assistance  in 
his  power.  I  kept  scanning  the  banks  as  we  glided 
along,  looking  for  the  smoke  of  a  camp  fire  or  any 
evidence  of  our  man. 

Along  toward  evening,  while  Arthur  was 
leisurely  pulling  at  the  oars,  I  noticed  a  thin  col- 
umn of  smoke  curling  up  behind  some  bushes  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  river.  On  informing  Arthur 
of  this,  I  deftly  steered  the  craft  into  a  small  cove 
where  we  landed.  It  did  not  take  us  many  min- 
utes to  unload  our  outfit  and  pitch  camp  for  the 
night.  We  ate  a  cold  supper  as  we  did  not  wish 
to  disturb  our  mysterious  neighbor  by  making  a 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


89 


I   NOTICED   A  THIN   COLUMN    OF    SMOKE 


90  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

noise.  We  wished  to  introduce  ourselves  to  him 
when  too  late  in  the  evening  for  him  to  take  to 
his  boat  and  leave  us. 

As  darkness  began  to  settle  down  Arthur  and 
myself  carefully  made  our  way  in  the  direction  of 
the  stranger's  camp.  We  found  that  he  had  a 
large  fire  going  and  was  reclining  on  his  unrolled 
blankets,  enjoying  a  smoke  from  an  old  pipe  which 
appeared  to  be  of  his  own  manufacture.  ''Good 
evening, "  was  our  salutation  as  we  attracted  his 
attention.  He  look  up  at  us  unconcernedly  and 
greeted  us  with  the  same  words  but  added, '  *  Come 
on,  boys,  make  yourselves  comfortable."  We  ad- 
vanced to  the  camp  fire  and  seated  ourselves  on  a 
log.  In  sizing  up  our  man  we  noticed  that  his 
appearance  tallied  with  the  description  given  us 
by  Mr.  Dudley,  so  we  knew  that  we  were  on  the 
right  trail. 

As  conversation  appeared  to  drag,  Arthur 
addressed  the  old  man  with  the  remark,  "Are 
you  traveling  far?"  To  this  inquiry  our  enter- 
tainer knocked  the  ashes  out  of  his  pipe  and  re- 
plied: "Yes,  I  have  been  on  a  long  journey,  but 
I  am  now  getting  near  home.  I  have  not  associ- 
ated with  my  kind  much  for  many  years,  and  when 
I  do  meet  any  of  the  human  family  they  appear  to 
view  me  with  such  curiosity  that  I  avoid  them,  but 
as  it  happened  I  felt  lonesome  this  evening  I  must 
admit  that  I  enjoy  your  company.  I  was  on  the 
river  bank  when  you  landed,  and  thought  you  had 
seen  the  smoke  of  my  fire  and  kind  of  longed  for 
you  to  pay  me  a  visit." 

These  words  broke  the  ice,  as  the  saying  goes, 
and  Arthur  and  I  were  pleased  that  an  obstacle 
we  feared  was  overcome.  After  refilling  his  pipe, 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  9 1 

the  old  man  leaned  back  in  his  blankets,  closed  his 
eyes  and  delivered  himself  of  the  following,  which 
I  repeat  as  well  as  it  can  be  remembered:  "I  am 
now  an  old  man,  and  my  remaining  days  on  earth 
are  few.  My  history  has  been  a  singular  one,  one 
that  not  one  man  in  a  million  in  this  age  can  dupli- 
cate. As  I  feel  the  effects  of  advancing  years,  it 
occurs  to  me  that  I  should  mix  more  with  my  fel- 
low kind  and  transmit  to  others  the  knowledge  that 
I  possess  in  the  hope  that  it  will  be  of  benefit 
to  others.  I  am,  as  I  said,  returning  home  from 
a  long  journey.  I  like  the  looks  of  you  boys,  and 
if  you  have,  say  a  week,  to  spare  I  will  take  you 
with  me  to  a  place  that  I  accidentally  discovered, 
I  will  not  say  how  many  years  ago,  and  you  can 
see  for  yourselves  many  wonderful  sights  that  you 
would  not  understand,  and  would  doubt  my  word 
were  I  to  tell  you  of  them.  Can  you  go  with  me? ' ' 

Arthur  and  I  talked  the  matter  over  for  a  few 
moments  and  decided  to  take  the  risk  if  it  were 
possible. 

Before  leaving  our  new  found  friend  for  the 
night,  it  was  decided  that  we  would  first  attend  to 
our  business  in  Metaline  and  then  join  the  old 
man  as  per  arrangements.  We  were  to  meet  him 
in  eight  days  from  the  following  evening  at  a 
point  on  a  high  mountain  some  miles  to  the  north- 
west of  Metaline.  He  rapidly  drew  a  map  of  the 
country  which,  by  following  there  was  no  doubt 
but  that  we  could  find  the  dim  trail.  After  this  we 
bade  each  other  good  night,  when  Arthur  and  my- 
self retraced  our  path  to  our  camp  and  retired. 

On  calling  at  the  old  man's  camp  next  morning 
we  found  he  had  been  gone  for  a  long  time  as  his 
fire  was  out.  We  loaded  our  effects  in  the  boat 


92  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

and  were  again  on  our  way  to  our  destination. 
The  next  day  we  arrived  at  Metaline  where  about 
a  half  dozen  prospectors  were  holding  onto  their 
claims  and  making  a  grub  stake  by  rocking  gold 
out  of  the  gravel  at  the  mouth  of  and  along  Sulli- 
van creek.  It  required  a  week  of  diligent  and  hard 
work  for  me  to  make  my  examinations  and  take 
samples,  then  we  were  ready  to  go  through  the 
never  before  heard  of  experiences  that  are  record- 
ed in  this  narrative.  The  evening  before  we  start- 
ed we  informed  the  boys  in  the  camp  that  we  were 
going  out  for  a  day  or  two  on  a  hunting  and  pros- 
pecting trip  and  assured  them  that  they  need  have 
no  fear  for  us  as  we  were  both  old  and  experienced 
mountaineers. 

Before  the  few  inhabitants  of  the  small  mining 
camp  were  out  of  their  blankets  the  next  morning 
Arthur  and  I  had  long  left  the  place  behind  and 
were  struggling  up  the  steep  grade  of  Flume  creek 
which  empties  into  the  Pend  Oreille  some  distance 
below  Metaline.  On  account  of  the  absence  of  any 
defined  trail,  and  the  primative  condition  of  the 
country,  our  progress  was  very  slow  and  extreme- 
ly tiresome.  At  last,  however,  we  gained  the  sum- 
mit and  started  off  in  the  direction  which  our  map 
showed  us  was  correct.  By  evening  we  had  come 
out  on  a  high  mountain  and  by  the  land  marks 
sketched  on  the  map  we  knew  we  were  at  the  place 
of  meeting.  A  search  of  the  surrounding  section 
showed  us  that  some  human  being  had  evidently 
been  there  recently,  but  no  one  was  within  sight 
or  hearing,  apparently,  as  we  called  a  number  of 
times  and  received  no  answer.  Finally  we  found 
a  spot  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  where  a  spring 
bubbled  from  the  ground  and  there  made  camp  for 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  93 

the  night.  At  an  early  hour  next  morning  we  were 
awakened  by  someone  saying:  "Well,  here  you 
are. ' '  On  opening  our  eyes  we  saw  our  friend,  the 
old  man,  standing  near  us.  Noting  our  look  of  in- 
quiry, he  remarked:  "I  have  been  busy  packing 
my  stuff  into  the  enchanted  valley,  and  as  I  have 
a  secret  trail  from  the  river  to  that  wonderful  and 
lovely  place,  I  did  the  work  alone,  as  1  have  done 
for  years.  There  is  another  entrance  to  the  val- 
ley, but  this  time  I  preferred  to  enter  by  this  one. ' ' 
Our  friend  decided  to  breakfast  with  us  on  our 
invitation  and  we  had  a  hearty  meal,  as  he  in- 
formed us  that  we  would  need  to  be  fortified  for 
the  day's  exertions. 

Arriving  at  the  top  of  the  mountain  again,  the 
old  man  led  us  to  a  fringe  of  small  firs  which 
bordered  the  north  side  of  an  open  space  where 
we  were.  Parting  the  bushes  and  passing  through, 
we  came  out  on  a  sheer  precipice.  Words  fail  me 
in  giving  an  accurate  description  of  that  which 
met  our  view.  In  the  bright  light  of  early  morning 
we  could  see  that  an  immense  circular  valley  must 
lay  many  hundreds  of  feet  below  us.  In  a  circle 
probably  two  miles  in  diameter  were  towering 
mountains  of  about  the  same  altitude  as  that  on 
which  we  stood,  their  sides  toward  the  valley  be- 
ing so  steep  that  no  human  or  animal  could  at- 
tempt to  get  up  or  down  without  being  dashed  to 
death  many -hundreds  of  feet  below.  It  was  im- 
possible to  see  to  the  bottom  of  the  abyss  as  a 
misty  cloud  hung  over  the  entire  valley  several 
hundred  feet  below.  ' '  These  clouds  are  the  vapor 
from  hot  springs,"  said  the  old  man.  "When  we 
get  down  there  we  will  scarcely  notice  the  vapor. ' ' 
"But  how  are  we  to  get  down!"  both  of  us  asked. 


94  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

"Oh,  I  will  show  you  the  way,  but  you  must  brace 
your  nerves  as  the  trail  is  quite  rough  and  ex- 
tremely dangerous/' 

Coming  back  into  the  open  and  proceeding  to 
the  east  a  few  rods  our  friend  again  squeezed 
through  the  brush;  we  followed  and  saw  that  a 
shelf  about  three  feet  wide  led  down  and  along  the 
side  of  a  precipice,  at  an  angle  of  about  twenty  de- 
grees. "This  is  the  beginning  of  the  trail,"  re- 
marked our  guide,  "now  we  will  all  fasten  our 
packs  on  tight  so  they  will  not  slip,  and  be  careful 
that  you  do  not  miss  your  footing. ' '  It  was  then 
that  I  began  one  of  the  most  perilous  journeys 
that  I  have  ever  taken  in  the  mountains  and  have 
had  experiences  in  this  line  from  Colorado  to 
Alaska.  '  '  Keep  your  nerve  and  do  not  look  down 
except  when  absolutely  necessary, ' '  said  our  guide 
and  the  decent  was  begun. 

Is  it  possible  for  me  to  describe  the  experiences 
of  that  strenuous  day's  work  as  we  made  our  way 
down  that  mountain  side?  For  perhaps  a  half 
mile  the  trail  led  as  described  above,  then  an  im- 
mense rock  slide  was  met  with  and  down  this 
at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees  we  were  com- 
pelled to  carefully  make  our  way,  as  the  slightest 
jar  might  start  the  whole  mass  and  we  would  be 
hurled  to  death  over  a  cliff  that  showed  up  far 
below.  Finally  we  reached  a  point  where  another 
shelf  led  us  away  from  the  loose  boulders  and 
along  this  we  traveled  for  some  distance  when  we 
came  to  a  spot  where  the  shelf  had  broken  away 
and  for  at  least  one  hundred  feet  there  was  no 
semblance  of  a  trail  except  a  ledge  not  to  exceed 
six  inches  in  width.  A  rawhide  rope  was  stretched 
across  this  chasm,  each  end  being  fastened  to  a 


Other  Far  Western  Stones. 


95 


THIS  IS  A  GEEAT  TRIAL  TO  YOUE  NEEVES,  BOYS 


g6  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

small  fir  that  had  found  footing  in  crevices  in  the 
rocks.  Looking  below  we  were  appalled.  Far  as 
could  be  seen  was  a  sheer  precipice.  Arthur  and 
I  drew  back,  but  the  old  man,  noticing  our  disin- 
clination to  trust  our  lives,  said :  * t  This  is  a  great 
trial  to  your  nerves,  boys,  but  when  you  see  me 
cross  safely  your  courage  will  return  and  you  will 
follow. "  Thereupon  he  seized  the  rope,  pulled  it 
taught  and  again  fastened  it  to  the  young  fir, 
then  holding  onto  the  rope  and  carefully  planting 
his  toes  on  the  narrow  ledge  he  slowly  worked  his 
way  across  the  frightful  place.  Arthur,  without 
a  word,  took  hold  of  the  rope  and  did  likewise; 
then  was  my  turn.  I  had  noticed  that  my  friends 
kept  on  the  outside  of  the  rope.  Calling  to  them 
to  again  tighten  it,  I  dismissed  every  thought  of 
fear  from  my  mind  and,  concentrating  only  on 
reaching  the  other  side  in  safety,  I  started  on  the 
side  of  the  rope  next  the  rocky  wall  and  soon 
joined  my  comrades  on  the  other  side.  But  here 
the  reaction  set  in  and  for  a  half  hour  Arthur  and 
I  could  only  rest  and  recover  from  the  strain. 

When  asked  how  he  managed  to  stretch  the  rope 
across  that  place  our  guide  stated  that  he  carried 
it  with  him  when  he  came  down  the  same  route 
that  we  had  traveled  together,  he  fastened  one  end 
to  the  small  fir  and  tied  a  rock  to  the  other,  then 
taking  a  swift  run  along  the  ledge  he  hurled  the 
rock  with  great  force  between  the  fir  on  the  other 
side  and  the  rock  wall,  the  impetus  would  wind 
the  rope  several  times  around  the  small  tree  and 
hold  it  tight  until  he  could  cross.  "I  have  worn 
out  a  number  of  ropes  there  since  I  first  came 
here,"  he  continued. 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  97 

Again  we  started  on  our  downward  path.  With- 
in an  hour  we  came  to  a  steep  gully  down  which 
we  climbed  for  several  hundred  feet,  using  the 
utmost  care  that  our  toes  were  firmly  fixed  in  a 
crevice  or  our  feet  braced  against  a  projecting 
rock  before  taking  the  next  step.  In  the  early 
evening  we  had  reached  a  bench  covered  with 
grass  and  our  guide  told  us  that  the  hazardous 
part  of  our  trip  was  over.  Crossing  this  bench 
and  looking  below  and  beyond  us,  our  eyes  met  a 
vision  that  it  is  best  to  describe  in  detail  in  the 
next  chapter.  With  lighter  hearts  we  hurried 
down  a  grassy  slope,  and  at  the  command  of  our 
guide  dropped  our  packs  near  a  pile  of  burned 
rocks  where  we  were  informed  camp  would  be 
made  for  the  night. 

While  undoing  our  packs  Arthur  and  I  kept  an 
eye  on  the  old  man.  He  went  to  a  roughly  built 
cache  of  stones  and  brought  out  a  frying  pan, 
coffee  pot,  some  tin  dishes,  knives,  forks  and 
spoons;  then  he  walked  over  to  another  pile  of 
rocks,  lighted  a  match,  threw  it  on  the  rocks  and 
jumped  back.  There  was  an  explosion  and  flames 
shot  up  around  the  stones  in  the  heap.  " Isn't 
that  a  fine  kitchen  ?"  he  remarked  with  a  smile. 
It  was  not  long  until  we  had  hot  coffee,  fried 
bacon,  canned  goods  and  hastily  baked  flap  jacks. 
Being  worn  out  with  the  exertions  of  the  day,  we 
prepared  for  sleep.  The  old  man  first  took  a  pail 
of  water  from  the  near-by  spring  and  dashed  it 
on  the  fire.  There  was  a  cloud  of  steam  for  a 
moment  and  when  it  disappeared  the  fire  was  out. 
"The  only  way  that  I  know  of  to  extinguish 
natural  gas  fire  is  by  steam, "  remarked  the  old 
man,  in  answer  to  our  inquiry  as  to  his  action. 


98  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

CHAPTER    II. 

At  one  time  in  the  night  I  was  awakened  by 
some  kind  of  an  animal  scampering  about  the 
camp;  I  also  heard  the  old  man  talking  in  low, 
soothing  tones  and  a  noise  which  resembled  a  cat 
lapping  milk  in  a  shallow  dish.  However,  this  did 
not  disturb  me  much  and  I  was  soon  again  in  the 
land  of  dreams. 

It  was  a  bright,  glorious  morning  that  greeted 
us  when  we  arose  from  our  blankets  spread  on 
the  luxurious  grass  that  covered  the  ground. 
Arthur  and  myself  both  noticed  how  well  we  felt 
and  remarked  on  our  bouyancy  of  spirits.  We 
realized  that  there  was  something  in  the  air  that 
gave  us  a  feeling  of  new  life.  Far  above  us  was 
the  misty  cloud  that  we  had  noticed  from  the 
heights  above  the  morning  before,  but  the  mist 
did  not  appear  to  shut  out  the  rays  of  the  sun, 
which  was  shining  with  all  the  splendor  of  that 
beautiful  orb  of  day.  Breakfast  was  soon  pre- 
pared and  swallowed  with  relish,  it  being  cooked 
on  the  gas  fire  the  same  as  our  supper  the  night 
before. 

We  climbed  to  a  higher  elevation  on  the  slope 
and  feasted  our  eyes  on  the  entrancing  panorama 
that  was  spread  out  before  us.  As  we  had  seen 
from  the  summit  of  the  mountain,  the  valley  was 
nearly  round  and  about  two  miles  in  diameter. 
A  clear  stream  several  rods  in  width  wound  along 
through  the  center  running  from  the  south  to  the 
north.  Along  its  banks  were  small  trees  of  de- 
ciduous growth,  while  at  different  points  on  the 
comparatively  level  plain  were  grovws  of  beautiful 
evergreen  trees.  At  one  spot  of  several  acres 


Other  Far  Western  Stories. 


99 


VIEW  OF  THE  ENCHANTED  VALLEY 


ioo  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley  were  a  number 
of  trees  of  smaller  size  in  regular  rows  which  had 
the  appearance  of  an  orchard.  Some  distance  to 
the  right  and  on  a  bench  we  saw  a  beautiful  white 
dome  on  the  top  of  which  the  dazzling  rays  of  the 
sun  reflected  so  strongly  as  to  affect  our  eyes  even 
at  that  distance.  We  also  observed  several  groups 
of  animals  grazing  but  could  not  make  out  their 
species.  In  the  extreme  northwest  side  of  the 
valley  a  cloud  of  steam  told  us  that  the  hot  springs 
of  which  the  old  man  had  spoken  were  located 
there.  "I  have  been  to  a  number  of  beauty  spots 
in  this  world;  to  the  National  Park  and  the 
Yosemite  Valley/'  remarked  Arthur,  "but  I  have 
never  yet  seen  anything  to  equal  this." 

Joining  the  old  man  at  the  camping  place,  we 
found  that  he  was  preparing  to  start,  but,  placing 
his  fingers  to  his  mouth,  he  gave  three  shrill 
whistles.  As  we  did  not  know  the  meaning  of 
this  we  waited  for  developments.  Soon  across  the 
plain  from  the  direction  of  the  white  dome  came 
bounding  an  animal.  As  it  reached  us  we  were 
puzzled  at  its  appearance  and  to  this  day  I  can 
not  classify  its  species  or  mixture.  This  strange 
creature  began  to  lick  the  hand  of  our  guide  and 
show  every  evidence  of  affection.  "This  is  my 
friend  and  companion  and  his  name  is  Jock," 
was  the  only  explanation  the  old  man  made  as  he 
stroked  the  animal. 

The  beast  was  about  the  size  of  a  yearling  bear ; 
his  coat  much  resembled  an  animal  of  that  kind, 
but  his  head  was  more  like  that  of  a  human  being 
and  he  carried  it  upright  similar  to  a  man.  His 
feet  appeared  to  be  a  cross  between  a  bear  and  a 
sheep  or  goat,  as  he  had  hoofs  and  also  claws. 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  101 

The  creature  did  not  becom^.f^i^iliar.witk Arthur 
or  myself  but  apparently  considered, our. presence 
as  a  matter  of  course.  IJis  otmsiif  ^pi*i>Q(*ed6dj  'to 
his  cache  and  brought  out  a  can  of  syrup.  He 
poured  out  a  small  quantity  which  the  animal 
greedily  lapped.  "It  is  for  Jock  that  I  always 
keep  a  large  supply  of  syrup  on  hand,"  said  the 
old  man.  "He  is  very  fond  of  it."  When  Jock 
had  finished  his  favorite  sweet,  the  old  man 
caressed  him  a  moment  and,  pointing  across  the 
valley  toward  the  white  dome,  said  "go,"  and  the 
creature  was  soon  bounding  in  the  direction  in- 
dicated. 

Turning  to  the  left  we  walked  briskly  for  per- 
haps a  mile,  when  the  stream  impeded  our 
progress.  '  '  Come  down  here,  I  wish  to  show  you 
something,"  said  our  guide.  We  followed  and 
when  at  the  level  of  the  creek  he  pointed  out  a  bed 
of  gravel  and  sand  eight  or  ten  feet  in  height  and 
said:  "Here  is  where  I  get  my  gold;  how  is  this 
for  a  placer  mine?"  As  we  did  not  have  a  pan 
with  us,  Arthur  and  I  scooped  up  the  material  in 
our  hands  and  were  astonished  at  the  number  of 
small  nuggets  and  the  quantity  of  dust  that  was 
visible.  "This  gravel  will  average  several  dollars 
a  cubic  yard  and  there  are  millions  of  yards  of  it, ' ' 
said  the  guide  as  we  forded  the  shallow  stream. 
Turning  still  more  to  the  left  we  came  to  a  steep 
wall,  one  of  the  sides  of  the  mountain  that  hemmed 
in  the  valley,  and  we  had  pointed  out  to  us  a  vein 
of  gold  quartz  about  ten  feet  in  width  between 
slate  and  quartzite  walls  which  was  literally  filled 
with  metallic  gold.  We  were  prepared  for  un- 
usual sights,  and  were  not  excited  at  that  which 
had  been  shown  us,  so  when  our  guide  again 


102  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

started  on  his  way  we  followed,  wondering  what 
would-be  uext.;  : 

Oar  rbiite  led  around  ihe  west  side  of  the  valley, 
and  as  we  stopped  to  admire  some  beautiful 
flowers  that  were  blooming  there  at  that  late  sea- 
son we  asked  how  it  was,  as  all  vegetation  outside 
the  valley  had  been  killed  by  the  frost.  ' '  Oh,  frost 
is  really  unknown  here,"  was  the  reply  from  our 
guide.  "This  valley  is  hundreds  of  feet  lower 
than  either  the  Columbia  or  Pend  Oreille  rivers. 
The  hot  springs  that  we  will  soon  see  keep  the 
valley  warm  in  winter.  I  have  always  been  puz- 
zled as  to  the  outlet  of  the  stream,  but  as  it  dis- 
appears under  that  north  mountain,  its  outlet 
must  be  far  down  the  Columbia  river."  "What 
variety  of  animals  have  you  here?"  I  asked,  as 
my  thoughts  recurred  to  the  groups  of  wild 
creatures  we  had  seen  the  evening  before. 
"Well,"  answered  the  guide,  "there  are  bear,  elk, 
goats,  mountain  sheep,  caribou,  moose,  black 
and  white  tailed  deer  and  all  kinds  of  small  game 
indigenous  to  the  northwest;  besides  this  there 
are  many  ducks  and  geese  in  their  proper  seasons 
and  in  the  summer  all  kinds  of  birds  make  their 
home  here.  I  have  always  treated  these  wild 
creatures  kindly,  although  I  slaughter  one  occa- 
sionly  for  food,  yet  they  do  not  fear  me  to  any 
great  extent." 

By  this  time  we  had  arrived  at  the  hot  springs, 
a  number  of  circular  and  oblong  depressions  in 
some  of  which  the  water  was  boiling  and  in  others 
the  temperature  being  about  blood  heat.  "You 
will  find  all  degrees  here,"  remarked  the  guide, 
"from  cold  to  boiling.  That  one  over  there  is 
salt,  and  from  it  the  animals  and  myself  secure 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  103 

our  supply. "  As  we  passed  up  a  fairly  wide 
ravine,  our  guide  brought  us  to  an  oblong  basin 
filled  with  liquid  that  resembled  water  but  on  test- 
ing it  we  found  that  it  was  much  more  dense  than 
that  element.  "This  is  the  fountain  of  youth," 
exclaimed  the  guide,  as  he  dipped  up  a  cup  of  the 
water,  "to  constant  bathing  here  I  owe  my  long 
life."  "Would  you  mind  telling  us  your  age?" 
we  asked.  "I  was  born  in  1739,"  he  replied  with 
an  amused  smile.  "What?"  we  ejaculated.  "Yes, 
I  am  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old.  For  over  a 
century  this  enchanted  valley  has  been  my  abid- 
ing place  and  to  this  healthy  spot,  bathing  in  that 
spring  and  living  the  simple  life  I  owe  my 
longevity. ' ' 

Arthur  and  myself  were  astounded  at  this  state- 
ment, which  could  not  be  disputed,  and  we 
naturally  asked  for  additional  information.  "It 
is  now  lunch  time,"  said  the  guide,  "and  while 
resting  I  will  give  you  a  brief  account  of  my 
history. 

"I  am  a  Scotchman  by  birth.  When  about 
thirty  years  of  age  I  entered  the  employ  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company  and  came  to  America. 
You  no  doubt  remember  that  this  company  was 
established  in  1670  and  has  had  trading  posts 
over  the  northwestern  portion  of  this  continent 
ever  since.  I  was  employed  as  a  trapper  by  this 
company  for  many  long  years,  and  have  covered 
the  coast  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  river 
to  beyond  the  Arctic  circle.  About  a  century  ago 
I  was  sent  to  Fort  Hope  in  the  interior  of  what 
is  now  the  province  of  British  Columbia.  While 
there  the  factor 's  daughter,  a  beautiful  and  accom- 
plished lady,  and  myself  became  enamored  with 


104  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

each  other,  but  her  father  bitterly  opposed  our 
proposed  marriage  and  the  factor  sent  me  out  on 
a  trapping  expedition.  According  to  the  strict 
rules  on  which  the  business  of  this  old  concern  was 
then  conducted,  there  was  nothing  to  do  but  obey, 
consequently  I  started  out  one  spring  in  an  east- 
erly direction  and  in  due  time  crossed  the 
Columbia  river.  While  working  eastward  of 
that  stream  searching  for  favorable  places  to  set 
my  traps,  I  accidentally  stumbled  onto  the  south- 
western entrance  to  this  valley.  This  entrance 
you  have  not  yet  seen,  and  I  will  not  show  it  to 
you  at  this  time,  but  for  fear  that  such  a  possi- 
bility might  occur  that  we  may  never  meet  again 
I  will  say  that  this  entrance  is  west  of  a  stream 
now  called  Deep  creek.  Crossing  the  western 
divide  on  Deep  creek  about  ten  miles  from  the 
Columbia  river  a  small  stream  will  be  found 
that  runs  toward  the  Pend  Oreille.  The  water 
of  this  creek  disappears  in  a  thick  clump  of  cedars. 
By  looking  closely  the  entrance  to  an  underground 
passage  will  be  found  and  by  following  it  you  will 
come  out  in  this  ravine  about  one-half  mile  above 
where  we  now  are. 

"  After  I  had  made  a  home  here;  had  brought  in 
pairs  of  nearly  all  the  animals  now  in  the  valley 
when  they  were  young;  planted  an  orchard  and 
made  other  improvements,  I  returned  to  Fort 
Hope  and  secretly  married  the  factor's  daughter. 
Having  provided  myself  with  a  couple  of  swift 
Indian  ponies,  my  wife  and  I  eluded  all  pursuit 
and  finally  reached  this  beautiful  place,  where  we 
lived  happily  for  a  number  of  years." 

As  there  was  a  noticeable  tinge  of  sadness  in 
the  old  man's  voice  when  he  spoke  of  his  wife,  we 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  105 

asked  him  no  questions,  and  for  some  time  after 
finishing  his  narrative  our  elderly  friend  was 
silent.  Eventually  he  arose  from  the  grassy  knoll 
where  we  had  been  sitting  and  started  toward  the 
north.  "It  is  the  pure  air,  and  frequent  bathing 
in  that  wonderful  chemical  spring  that  I  believe 
is  the  real  fountain  of  youth  that  has  kept  me 
so  young  in  looks  and  feeling,"  said  our  guide  as 
we  skirted  the  base  of  the  northerly  mountain. 
"Look,  there  is  my  orchard,"  he  remarked,  as 
he  pointed  to  the  rows  of  trees  that  we  had  noted 
the  evening  before.  "I  have  an  abundance  of  all 
kinds  of  fruits  every  season.  There  are  fruits 
there  that  grow  in  California  and  other  warm 
countries.  They  do  well  here  on  account  of  the 
low  altitude.  Every  tree  in  that  orchard  was 
grown  from  seed,  as  it  was  planted  long  before 
there  were  any  nurseries  north  of  California." 

Again  fording  the  large  stream  we  came  to  the 
foot  of  a  grassy  slope  and  here  the  old  man 
dropped  down  on  the  beautiful  green  carpet  and 
said:  "Now  there  is  one  more  sight  for  you  to 
see  and  you  must  excuse  me  from  accompanying 
you.  When  you  return  to  me  here  you  will  have 
seen  that  which  will  explain  all  that  I  have  not 
told  you."  Placing  his  fingers  in  his  mouth,  he 
again  uttered  that  shrill  whistle  and  in  a  moment 
the  strange  animal  Jock  came  rapidly  down  the 
slope.  After  caressing  him  and  pouring  out  on 
the  grass  some  syrup  from  a  flask  that  he  had 
with  him,  and  the  animal  had  greedily  licked  it 
up,  the  old  man  pointed  up  the  hill  and  said  "go" 
to  the  creature  and  motioned  to  us  to  follow. 

Arriving  at  the  top  of  the  slope  Arthur  and  I 
took  a  look  around.  It  was  a  lovely  view  that  met 

j* 


106  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

our  eyes.  The  bench  that  we  were  on  was  irregu- 
lar in  shape  and  contained  probably  four  acres. 
It  was  covered  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  grass 
that  gave  evidence  of  having  been  carefully  taken 
care  of  at  some  previous  time.  In  the  center  of 
this  stood  the  magnificent  white  dome  that  we 
had  seen  from  the  far  side  of  the  valley.  If  this 
mound  of  marble  whiteness  looked  beautiful  from 
a  distance,  its  beauty  was  a  hundred  fold  enhanced 
by  a  nearer  view.  We  gazed  on  its  handsome  lines 
and  symmetrical  form  for  a  number  of  minutes 
and  then  approached  it.  Before  stopping  we 
passed  entirely  around  the  pyramid  and  found 
it  to  be  a  form  of  lime  that  had  been  deposited  in 
that  shape  by  the  action  of  water  forced  up  from 
below.  The  water  was  heavily  charged  with  the 
material  and  had  crystallized  when  exposed  to  the 
air. 

On  the  side  next  the  valley  we  found  two  nar- 
row openings,  but  from  the  water  trickling 
down  it  could  be  seen  that  the  process  of  crystal- 
lizing would  soon  close  these  entrances.  We 
passed  to  the  interior  and  groped  around  until 
our  eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  dim  light  on 
the  alabaster  walls.  We  soon  could  see  almost 
as  well  as  though  we  were  outside.  The  stalac- 
tites and  stalagmites  formed  by  the  lime  in  solu- 
tion were  grand  beyond  description.  At  intervals 
slender  pillars  rose  from  floor  to  roof.  The  grotto 
was  about  fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  was  neatly 
divided  into  several  chambers  by  the  pillars  and 
arches,  which  were  attached  to  the  roof. 

While  I  was  taking  in  these  details  Arthur  kept 
on  examining  other  portions  of  the  interesting 
grotto.  Finally  he  came  and  took  me  by  the  arm. 


THEY    WEBB     SOLID     STONE— PETRIFIED 


io8  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

I  turned  and  gazed  into  his  face  and  could  see  by 
his  expression  that  he  was  very  much  agitated. 
Without  speaking  he  pulled  me  along  and  we 
entered  another  apartment.  Can  1  find  words  to 
express  to  the  reader  a  faint  conception  of  that 
which  met  my  eyes?  The  apartment  had  all 
appearances  of  having  been  used  as  a  living  room, 
but  the  furniture  was  composed  of  the  same 
material  as  the  grotto.  Lying  on  a  lounge  was 
the  body  of  a  beautiful  woman,  her  classical 
features  as  perfect  as  though  life  yet  remained  in 
that  perfect  form.  Kneeling  beside  the  couch  we 
saw  the  figure  of  a  little  girl,  the  face  turned 
toward  that  of  its  mother.  For  a  long  time  we 
looked  upon  this  strange  but  sad  scene  and  then 
reverently  approached  and  for  a  second  allowed 
our  vandal  hands  to  rest  on  the  heads  of  the  two 
figures.  They  were  solid  stone — petrified. 

Slowly,  and  without  a  word,  we  turned  and  left 
the  grotto.  "His  wife  and  child, "  murmured 
Arthur  as  we  reached  the  outer  air.  "Yes,"  I 
answered,  my  emotions  being  too  strong  for 
further  conversation  at  the  time.  Down  the  slope 
we  went  and  joined  our  friend.  "You  have  seen 
all?"  he  inquired.  We  nodded  assent.  "They 
have  been  as  you  see  them  for  many,  many  years," 
he  added.  "One  fall  it  was  necessary  for  me 
to  make  a  trip  to  Fort  Colville.  I  was  detained 
on  account  of  an  unusual  fall  of  snow.  When  I 
returned  to  the  valley  I  found  them  as  you  have 
seen.  Now  all  the  time,  day  and  night,  they  are 
guarded  by  Jock,  who  never  leaves  them.  It  will 
be  but  a  year  or  two  until  the  precipitation  from 
the  water  will  forever  seal  them  in  their  tomb, 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  109 

there  to  remain  for  all  time  unless  it  is  opened 
by  artificial  means." 

The  three  of  us  crossed  the  valley  to  our  camp- 
ing place  of  the  night  before.  None  of  us  felt 
much  like  talking,  consequently  the  evening  was 
spent  in  comparative  silence.  Next  morning, 
after  a  hearty  breakfast,  Arthur  and  myself  cor- 
dially wrung  the  hand  of  our  friend  and  began  the 
terrific  labor  of  retracing  our  steps  out  of  the 
valley  by  the  same  route  that  we  came. 

Such  is  the  story  of  the  enchanted  valley. 
Nearly  twenty  years  have  passed  since  the  fore- 
going experiences  were  gone  through.  Arthur's 
mortal  remains  lie  in  their  last  resting  place  way 
back  in  the  state  of  Maine.  I  never  again  met  the 
strange  old  man  and  as  far  as  known,  although 
the  country  is  well  settled,  no  one  has  found  and 
entered  that  magnificent  and  beautiful  spot  that 
we  explored.  Whether  the  old  man  breathed  his 
last  in  the  grotto,  and  sleeps  eternally  with  his 
loved  ones  or  not  is  a  question  that  will  be  settled 
when  the  valley  is  again  entered.  When  this 
account  reaches  the  enterprising  people  of  Col- 
ville,  the  county  seat  of  Stevens  county,  it  is  prob- 
able that  they  will  open  up  the  valley  and  cause  it 
to  be  one  of  the  health  and  pleasure  resorts  of 
the  world. 


no  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

FOUND  AND  LOST  A  FORTUNE. 

Tales  of  huge  nuggets  of  gold  from  Nevada  and 
immense  chunks  of  native  silver  from  Cobalt  have 
been  going  the  rounds  for  some  time  and  naturally 
cause  people  to  believe  that  there  are  wonderful 
riches  of  that  nature  in  those  sections. 

To  show  that  the  mining  regions  tributary  to 
Spokane  are  not  behind  other  sections  as  far  as 
colossal  pieces  of  the  much  sought  yellow  metal 
is  concerned,  the  following  narrative  is  given  of 
a  find  made  by  the  writer  and  three  companions 
some  years  ago  on  the  shores  of  Kootenay  lake, 
in  British  Columbia. 

It  was  in  the  early  spring  of  1892.  With  many 
others  I  had  joined  the  stampede  to  the  great 
silver-lead  strikes  in  the  Slocan  district,  and  had 
arrived  at  Kaslo  too  early  to  get  into  the  Eldo- 
rado on  account  of  the  heavy  snows  of  the  pre- 
vious winter  not  yet  having  disappeared,  thus 
making  it  impossible  to  transport  supplies  into  the 
scene  of  the  discoveries  of  the  fall  before. 

Having  nothing  to  do,  and  not  wishing  to  be 
idle,  I  purchased  a  small  rowboat  and  began  in- 
vestigating the  mineral  resources  of  the  country 
bordering  the  shores  of  the  lake. 

It  so  happened  that  I  finally  camped  for  a  time 
at  the  head  of  Crawford  bay,  which  is  really  the 
east  arm  of  that  large  body  of  water.  Here  I  fell 
in  with  two  young  Englishmen  who  had  pre- 
empted and  were  improving  a  ranch  at  that  point. 
These  young  men  kindly  invited  me  to  make  my- 
self at  home  and  were  prodigious  in  their 
hospitality. 


i        Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 1 1 

After  being  at  this  point  a  week  or  ten  days, 
where,  by  the  way,  we  were  many  miles  from  any 
other  human  being,  our  little  circle  was  augmented 
by  the  arrival  of  another  person,  who,  like  my- 
self, was  extended  the  hospitality  of  the  camp. 
This  party,  whom  I  shall  call  Joe,  will  be  described 
farther  on  in  this  narrative. 

There  were  now  four  of  us,  each  eager  to  im- 
prove his  fortunes  and  anxious  for  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  an  honest  dollar,  if  not  a  com- 
petency, could  we  find  the  opportunity. 

The  personnel  of  the  crowd  was  as  follows: 
The  two  Britishers  will  be  designated  as  Bill  and 
Jim,  and  the  new  arrival  I  shall  call  Joe  in  the 
recital  of  our  experiences  that  are  here  given. 

Bill  had  been  educated  as  a  chemist  in  the  old 
country  and  was  always  experimenting  when  not 
otherwise  engaged,  as  he  had  a  large  stock  of 
chemicals  on  hand.  Jim  was  a  mathematician 
by  nature  and  was  always  figuring  on  some  propo- 
sition, and  no  problem  that  could  be  solved  by 
figures  was  too  complex  for  him  to  demonstrate. 
Joe  was  by  choice  a  prospector,  and  had  followed 
his  calling  from  Mexico  to  Alaska.  The  fourth 
member  was  the  writer,  whose  extreme  modesty 
and  strict  regard  for  truth  prevents  any  allusions 
to  his  accomplishments. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write  the  smelting  plant 
was  building  at  Pilot  bay,  about  eight  miles  from 
us  by  water.  Bill  had  gone  by  rowboat  to  the 
store  at  the  works  for  supplies.  On  his  return 
he  had  brought  the  news  that  a  couple  of  beef 
steers  purchased  for  meat  by  the  manager  had 
strayed  away  and  that  a  reward  of  $40  had  been 
offered  for  their  return,  dead  or  alive. 


'EABLY  ONE  MORNING  WE  STARTED 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 13 

Here  was  a  chance  for  us  to  increase  our  capital 
$10  per,  and  we  all  resolved  to  locate  this  bonanza 
of  beef  and  earn  the  reward,  hence  preparations 
were  at  once  made  for  our  rough  trip  into  the  hills. 

We  decided  that  while  we  were  hunting  for 
cattle  we  would  also  do  some  prospecting,  and 
with  that  end  in  view  we  carried  with  us  tools  for 
the  purpose. 

Early  one  morning  we  started.  It  had  been 
decided  to  first  explore  the  peninsula  between  the 
main  lake  and  Crawford  bay,  consequently  we  took 
two  rowboats — Bill  and  Jim  in  one,  while  Joe  and 
myself  occupied  the  other.  We  pulled  down  the 
bay  about  four  miles,  when  we  landed,  secured  our 
boats  and  commenced  our  search.  All  day  long 
we  hiked  over  the  hills  peering  into  thickets  and 
exploring  gullies,  but  we  did  not  get  a  sight  of 
the  animals  nor  did  we  see  a  track. 

It  was  5  o'clock  in  the  evening  when  the  four 
of  us  came  out  on  a  long>  narrow  cape  that  ex- 
tended out  in  the  main  lake  and  was  surrounded 
on  all  sides  but  one  by  water.  Being  tired,  we  all 
dropped  down  under  the  shade  of  a  tree  to  rest. 

While  talking  over  our  non-success  of  the  day, 
I,  prospector-like,  was  digging  in  the  ground  with 
my  small  poll  pick,  when  the  point  adhered  to 
some  metallic  substance.  On  making  an  examina- 
tion it  was  easily  seen  that  the  substance  was 
really  metal.  On  calling  the  attention  of  the 
others  to  this  we  soon  scraped  away  the  soil  and 
found  that  the  chunk  rested  on  bedrock.  It  was 
not  much  of  a  task  to  clean  the  object  and  examine 
it  thoroughly.  Bill,  who  had  a  small  bottle  of 
nitric  acid  with  him,  soon  made  a  test,  and  pro- 
nounced the  metal  gold.  Jim  in  the  meantime  had 


114  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

not  been  idle  and  had  measured  the  nugget  with  a 
pocket  rule  and  began  figuring. 

We  all  were  so  dumbfounded  with  the  magni- 
tude of  our  discovery  that  we  were  in  a  measure 
speechless.  Finally  Jim  spoke  up  and  said: 
"Boys,  that  hunk  of  gold  averages  27  inches  long, 
12  inches  wide  and  14  inches  deep ;  the  total  num- 
ber of  cubic  inches  is  4,536 ;  there  are  10.45  ounces 
to  the  inch,  hence  the  nugget  weighs  47.401  20-100 
ounces  or  3.950  troy  pounds  and  10  ounces. " 

This  statement  almost  took  our  breath  away. 
We  were  so  staggered  with  the  knowledge  of  sud- 
denly acquired  and  great  wealth  that  it  was  some 
time  before  we  could  collect  our  senses.  Finally 
the  nugget  was  covered  over  carefully  and  we 
sought  our  boats  and  silently  rowed  back  to  camp. 

After  the  evening  meal  Bill  and  Jim  were  busy. 
Bill  made  tests  of  a  sample  of  the  gold  that  he  had 
chipped  from  the  chunk  with  the  camp  ax,  and 
Jim  was  busily  engaged  in  figuring.  Bill  an- 
nounced his  result  first.  He  said:  "That  gold 
is  fully  900  fine  and  is  worth  $18  an  ounce."  Jim, 
after  a  few  rapid  strokes  with  his  pencil,  re- 
marked: "And  its  value  is  $853,221.60,  and  as 
there  are  four  of  us  to  share  in  it,  our  individual 
interests  amount  to  $213,505.40." 

With  upward  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  in 
sight  for  each  of  us,  we  naturally  began  to  dis- 
cuss ways  and  means  of  getting  this  treasure  to 
market,  and  our  fingers  actually  itched  as  we 
thought  of  the  royal  times  we  would  have  in 
spending  at  least  a  portion  of  the  money. 

Soon  we  began  to  tell  each  other  of  the  many 
things  that  we  would  do  with  our  suddenly  ac- 
quired wealth.  Bill  would  return  to  England  and 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  115 

on  the  strength  of  the  money  would  satisfy  the 
ambition  of  his  life  by  securing  an  introduction 
to  the  Prince  of  Wales.  Joe  proposed  to  gather 
up  all  the  worn  out  burros  from  Mexico  to  the  far 
north,  build  an  immense  corral  and  stables  and 
care  for  these  creatures  the  remainder  of  their 
days.  I  had  begun  to  tell  that  I  would  establish 
a  home  for  old  and  disabled  prospectors,  when 
practical  Jim  suggested  that  we  secure  our  gold 
before  we  spent  the  money  that  it  would  bring  us. 

After  talking  the  matter  over  it  was  decided 
that  we  would  place  a  heavy  false  bottom  in  the 
laigest  rowboat  and  in  that  small  vessel  trans- 
port the  nugget  to  our  camp,  where  in  time  it 
could  be  cut  to  pieces  by  the  aid  of  chisels  until 
small  enough  to  be  handled  and  transported  to 
the  United  States  assay  office,  from  which  the  cash 
would  be  forthcoming.  As  we  feared  that  some 
roaming  prospector  might  accidentally  stumble 
onto  our  find,  caused  us  to  be  in  a  hurry  to  get 
the  nugget  under  our  control. 

The  sun  was  scarcely  up  next  morning  when  we 
were  all  at  work  strengthening  the  large  boat.  We 
made  it  as  staunch  as  we  possibly  could  with  the 
limited  means  at  hand,  and,  taking  the  two  boats 
as  we  had  done  the  day  before,  the  quartet  of  us 
were  soon  pulling  the  oars  lively  and  speeding 
for  our  fortune. 

For  the  purpose  of  sizing  up  the  chances  of  load- 
ing our  treasure  we  rounded  the  cape  in  our  boats. 
We  found  that  the  cape  terminated  in  a  cliff  fully 
12  feet  high,  and  to  place  the  nugget  in  the  boat 
it  would  be  necessary  to  slide  the  chunk  of  gold 
down  on  skids.  The  large  boat  was  anchored 
under  the  cliff  and  we  climbed  up  to  the  scene  of 


CRASH— OUR    BOAT   WAS    A   MASS    OF   KINDLING   WOOD 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 1 7 

our  discovery  and  were  pleased  to  find  that  the 
precious  lump  had  not  been  disturbed. 

To  roll  the  heavy  piece  of  metal  to  the  edge  of 
the  cliff  it  was  necessary  to  strip  the  surface  down 
to  bedrock  for  the  purpose  of  having  a  solid 
foundation.  This  was  an  easy  matter,  as  we  had 
brought  all  necessary  tools  with  us.  Two  stout 
skids  were  cut  and  placed  so  that  the  lower  ends 
rested  in  the  boat  and  the  upper  ends  against  the 
top  of  the  cliff. 

By  the  aid  of  a  cant  hook  and  two  hand  spikes 
we  turned  the  heavy  mass  over  and  gradually 
worked  it  toward  the  skids.  A  heavy  rope  was 
fastened  around  the  chunk  and  a  convenient  tree 
was  used  as  a  snubbing  post.  Carefully  we  poised 
the  weighty  mass  on  the  brink,  tightly  Jim  held 
the  rope  around  the  tree;  the  nugget  slipped  over 
the  top  of  the  skids — Crash — our  boat  was  a  mass 
of  kindling  wood  and  400  feet  of  the  blue  waters 
of  Kootenay  lake  hid  our  beloved  nugget  from 
view. 

The  rope  had  parted. 


A  POT  OF  GOLD. 


There  are  several  hundred  people  now  in  Spo- 
kane who  resided  in  that  portion  of  North  Idaho 
known  as  the  Coeur  d'AIene  country  during  the 
winter  of  1886-7,  and  all  will  remember  that  it 
was  a  winter  for  unusual  snow.  When  spring  did 
at  last  arrive,  stories  of  new  and  fabulous  strikes 
were  of  daily  occurrence. 


1 1 8  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

Libby  Creek,  in  Montana,  on  account  of  its 
nearness,  appeared  to  be  the  objective  point  for 
many  prospectors,  as  the  report  of  rich  gold  dig- 
gings there  created  no  little  excitement. 

With  a  great  many  others,  I  had  spent  the 
winter  in  the  then  lively  camp  of  Murray,  and  like 
all  who  follow  the  fortunes  of  a  miner,  was 
anxious  to  make  for  the  best  diggings  as  soon  as 
the  snows  of  winter  disappeared.  Accordingly, 
April,  1887,  my  partner,  Bill  Dawson,  and  myself, 
took  the  stage  running  from  Murray  to  Thomp- 
son Falls,  in  Montana,  traveled  to  the  latter  place 
and  outfitted  for  the  new  Eldorado.  We  pur- 
chased a  good  strong  cayuse,  on  which  we  packed 
our  bedding,  cooking  utensils,  etc.,  and  a  whipsaw, 
as  it  was  necessary  to  cut  our  own  lumber  for 
sluice  boxes  and  other  purposes.  After  a  hard 
tramp  of  upwards  of  a  hundred  miles,  we  arrived 
on  the  stream  for  which  we  were  bound.  Then 
we  searched  up  and  down  its  course  for  a  favor- 
able point  to  locate  a  claim  and  begin  operations. 
As  many  white  miners  and  Chinamen  had  pre- 
ceded us,  we  had  to  act  promptly  and  stake  out 
some  ground  if  we  wished  to  try  our  fortunes  in 
the  reputed  rich  placer  deposits  of  that  section. 

Finally  we  located  a  twenty-acre  claim  on  the 
stream  at  a  point  where  white  men  had  taken  a 
claim  below  and  a  gang  of  Chinamen  above.  The 
other  prospectors  had  allowed  this  particular 
ground  to  lie  vacant  from  the  fact  that  there  were 
more  boulders  there  than  at  any  other  point  on 
the  creek.  I  was  in  favor  of  giving  the  place  the 
go-by  and  looking  further,  but  Dawson  argued  that 
we  would  be  more  liable  to  find  coarse  gold  there 
than  at  another  place  where  the  creek  wash  was 


Other  Far  Western  Stones.  1 19 

all  gravel  and  sand.  I  gave  in  to  his  superior 
wisdom,  as  he  had  been  for  many  years  a  placer 
miner,  while  my  experience  in  that  branch  of  min- 
ing was  limited. 

We  were  soon  busily  engaged  in  whip  sawing, 
and  in  a  week  had  sufficient  lumber  for  a  respect- 
able string  of  sluices.  We  then  ran  a  drain  ditch 
to  bed  rock  on  the  lower  end  of  our  claim,  set  our 
boxes,  and  commenced  mining  in  real  earnest,  by 
the  method  the  placer  miners  term  ground  sluic- 
ing. Every  time  we  put  in  a  new  box  we  cleaned 
up,  and  in  a  short  time  had  quite  a  little  pile  of 
gold  dust  and  nuggets  between  us.  This  lasted  for 
a  few  weeks  and  then  our  pay  streak  gave  out. 
I  was  in  favor  of  quitting  at  this  stage  of  the  game 
and  looking  for  a  healthier  prospect,  but  Bill  was 
obdurate,  and  claimed  we  would  yet  strike  it  richer 
than  ever  if  we  would  but  keep  on.  Therefore 
day  by  day  we  toiled  in  the  water,  shoveling  sand 
and  gravel,  and  rolling  heavy  boulders,  the  only 
reward  being  a  few  fine  colors. 

Thus  matters  progressed  until  the  middle  of 
June.  Then  began  one  of  the  worst  rain  storms 
it  was  ever  my  fortune  or  misfortune  to  see  in 
the  mountains.  For  three  days  it  poured,  and  so 
incessantly  did  the  water  descend  that  we  could 
not  step  out  of  our  tent  an  instant  without  being 
drenched  to  the  skin.  The  creek  was  running  bank 
full,  and  we  realized  that  our  development  work 
was  obliterated  and  our  sluice  boxes  washed  away. 
I  must  confess  I  did  not  feel  as  discouraged  as 
my  partner,  as  I  had  lost  faith  in  the  claim  and 
was  desirous  of  getting  away  from  it. 

The  day  after  the  water  had  subsided,  Bill  and 


I2O  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

I  took  a  stroll  up  to  the  diggings  to  see  the  extent 
of  the  damage.  As  we  expected,  all  our  hard  work 
had  been  for  naught.  Our  sluices  were  washed 
away,  and  our  long  cut  filled  to  the  top  with 
boulders,  gravel  and  sand.  We  walked  to  the 
upper  end  of  the  claim  and  were  much  surprised 
to  see  one  place  where  the  water,  with  its  terrible 
force,  had  scooped  out  all  the  wash,  leaving  the 
bed  rock  bare.  "We  climbed  down  into  this  exca- 
vation to  find  if  we  could  any  of  the  yellow  metal 
on  the  bed  rock.  Two  large  granite  boulders 
attracted  our  attention,  and  we  simultaneously 
peered  between  them.  Could  we  believe  our 
senses,  or  were  we  dreaming?  There,  wedged 
tightly  between  these  massive  boulders,  either  of 
which  would  weigh  a  ton,  was  a  gold  nugget  as 
large  as  a  peck  measure.  We  each  gave  a  subdued 
cry,  then  looked  at  one  another,  rubbed  our  eyes 
and  again  gazed  on  this  lump  of  virgin  gold.  We 
pinched  each  other,  walked  around  and  came  back 
for  another  look  in  order  to  satisfy  ourselves  that 
the  existence  of  so  much  wealth  was  a  reality,  then 
the  delicious  truth  began  to  dawn  upon  us  that 
it  was  ours,  all  ours,  and  we  were  entitled  to  it  by 
every  law  of  our  country.  We  realized  that  we 
would  be  at  once  lifted  from  the  direst  poverty  to 
affluence.  Eich !  We  had  never  known  the  mean- 
ing of  the  word  before.  As  soon  as  we  could  trans- 
port that  mass  of  gold  to  Helena,  and  receive  its 
value  from  the  United  States  assay  office  there, 
our  names,  as  the  discoverers  of  the  largest  gold 
nugget  ever  found,  would  be  heralded  to  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  earth.  Eich  and  famous,  all  in 
an  instant,  as  it  were.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  we 
poor,  ragged,  and  I  might  truthfully  say,  hungry 


Other  Far  Western  Stones. 


121 


EXERTED    ALL    OUR    STRENGTH    TO    MOVE    THE    BOULDERS 


122  A  Half-Breed  Dance  and 

prospectors,  were  lifted  up  into  the  seventh  heaven 
of  delight? 

When  we  finally  recovered  from  the  joyous 
shock  sufficiently  to  realize  that  we  must  be  doing 
something  towards  getting  our  treasure  away 
from  its  rocky  bed,  we  procured  a  couple  of  hand- 
spikes, and  exerted  all  our  strength  to  move  the 
boulders.  Our  efforts  were  futile,  neither  could 
we  loosen  the  rocks  nor  the  lump  of  gold.  At  last 
we  decided  to  resort  to  other  means  to  secure  the 
wealth  ^  that  good  fortune  had  so  considerately 
placed  in  our  path.  As  no  one  knew  of  the  nugget 
but  ourselves,  we  concluded  to  keep  the  matter 
a  secret  between  us  until  we  decided  the  important 
question  of  transportation  to  the  railroad  at 
Thompson  Falls.  We  covered  it  with  rocks  and 
sand  so  that  no  passer-by  would  see  it,  after 
measuring  its  dimensions  as  near  as  possible  so 
we  could  figure  out  its  approximate  value.  Then 
we  wended  our  way  to  the  tent,  there  to  consider 
the  method  of  transportation. 

At  the  tent  we  made  our  calculations,  based  on 
the  lump  being  equal  to  a  cube  ten  inches  square, 
estimated  its  value  at  $16  per  ounce  and  obtained 
the  result  of  $168,800,  which  was  the  very  least 
the  assay  office  in  Helena  would  pay  us  for  it. 
Then  we  suggested  different  plans  for  transport- 
ing the  heavy  mass  to  the  railroad.  We  arrived 
at  its  weight  on  the  basis  that  one  cubic  inch  of 
gold  weighs  10.55  ounces,  which  would  bring  our 
chunk  up  to  880  pounds.  Finally  we  adopted  the 
plan  proposed  by  Bill  whereby  I  was  to  remain 
at  the  camp  and  he  would  take  our  pack  animal, 
proceed  to  Thompson  Falls,  purchase  drills,  a 
striking  hammer  and  powder,  and  a  number  of 


j        Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 23 

chisels.  With  these  we  would  blast  one  of  the 
large  boulders,  then  cut  the  nugget  up  into  smaller 
pieces,  put  them  into  sacks  with  samples  of  ore, 
and  have  the  whole  cargo  packed  out  on  Dan 
Hires  pack  train,  which  made  semi-monthly  trips. 

That  night  I  lay  awake  a  long  time  thinking  of 
the  sudden  turn  of  fortune  in  my  favor.  I  could 
take  the  hatchet  from  the  camp  and  in  an  hour 
chip  from  that  lump  of  gold  an  amount  equal  to 
that  which  my  old  father  had  toiled  forty  years  to 
save.  I  wondered  what  effect  it  would  have  on 
the  dear  ones  at  home  whom  I  had  not  seen  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century  when  they  heard  first  through 
the  dispatches  that  I,  the  wanderer,  had  at  last 
struck  it  rich.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  my  plans 
were  made  for  the  future?  When  at  last  I  did 
fall  asleep  my  dreams  were  all  of  the  rose-tinted 
kind. 

Dawson  left  early  the  next  morning,  expecting 
to  return  in  a  few  days  with  everything  necessary 
to  carry  out  our  plans.  I  was  left  alone  at  the 
camp  with  my  day  dreams  and  visions.  The  fact 
soon  dawned  upon  me  that  I,  the  possessor  of  over 
$80,000,  needed  a  change  of  underclothing  or 
vermin  might  begin  their  troublesome  career  on 
my  person.  On  account  of  being  kept  so  busy 
we  had  been  having  a  Chinaman  named  Sam  Sing 
do  our  washing.  Sing  lived  in  a  cabin  two  claims 
above  ours,  eking  out  a  living  by  washing  out  gold 
in  a  rocker  and  doing  laundry  work  for  the  dif- 
ferent miners  who  chose  to  patronize  him. 

Early  in  the  day,  therefore,  I  walked  up  the 
creek  to  Sam's  cabin,  stopping  to  see  that  our 
nugget  had  not  been  disturbed.  When  I  reached 
the  cabin  I  found  the  door  open.  I  stepped  inside 


124  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

and  found  Sam  lying  on  his  bunk  with  an  opium 
layout  beside  him,  enjoying  a  pull  at  the  pipe.  The 
fumes  of  the  drug  were  sickening,  but  I  managed 
to  ask  the  heathen  about  our  washing.  Same  arose, 
came  to  the  door,  as  I  had  sought  relief  on  the 
outside,  and  remarked,  "No  washee  leady;  heap 
lain;  cleek  laise,  takee  way  kettle;  no  heatum 
water;  no  ketch  um  kettle  yet." 

I  understood  from  this  that  the  sudden  rise  in 
the  creek  had  carried  away  Sam's  kettle — a  cop- 
per one — which  I  had  noticed  before  that  he  had 
used  for  heating  water  for  washing  purposes. 
Hence  I  took  our  clothes  back  to  camp  with  me, 
calculating  upon  washing  them  in  the  creek. 

Somehow  I  did  not  feel  so  exultant  as  formerly 
since  making  our  rich  find,  but  I  attributed  my 
feelings  to  the  reaction  that  generally  comes  after 
having  one's  hopes  raised  to  their  highest  pitch. 
I  went  about  my  chores  for  the  day  and  when  night 
came  retired  to  my  bed  in  the  tent.  I  soon  fell 
asleep  and  must  have  slept  soundly,  for  when  I 
awoke  with  a  start,  lit  a  match  and  consulted  my 
watch  it  was  past  midnight.  A  horrible  fear 
appeared  to  have  possession  of  me — some  pre- 
sentment of  coming  danger  or  disappointment. 
I  tried  to  sleep,  but  could  not.  Finally  a  thought 
struck  me.  I  sprang  from  my  bed  and  hurried  on 
my  clothes ;  lighting  a  candle,  I  seized  a  pick,  and 
was  soon  speeding  up  the  gulch.  I  arrived  at  the 
large  boulders,  placed  the  candle  between  them 
where  the  wind  would  not  extinguish  it,  scraped 
the  dirt  from  the  nugget,  raised  the  pick  as  high 
as  I  could  and  brought  it  down  on  the  nugget  with 
great  force.  The  point  of  the  pick  went  through 
half  way  to  the  eye  and  was  only  stopped  by  the 


Other  Far  Western  Stones. 


125 


HIS    WORLDLY    POSSESSIONS    IN    A    FLOUR    SACK1 


126  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

vessel  being  packed  full  of  sand.    I  had  found  the 
Chinaman's  copper  kettle. 


Five  days  later  a  solitary  individual  approached 
the  Northern  Pacific  station  at  Thompson  Falls. 
He  was  softly  treading  on  his  uppers,  and  had 
his  worldly  possessions  in  a  flour  sack  on  his  back. 
It  was  me. 

I  did  not  wait  for  Bill  to  return,  and  the  last 
I  heard  of  him  he  was  whacking  bulls  in  Montana. 


HEE-HEE  STONE. 


On  the  high  divide  between  the  Okanogan  and 
Kettle  rivers,  and  on  the  northern  slope  of  Bona- 
parte mountain  near  the  head  of  Tonascut  creek, 
which  flows  into  the  Okanogan,  and  the  source  of 
Myers  creek,  which  empties  its  waters  Into  Kettle 
river,  is  a  spot  that  has  been  historic  with  the 
Indians  of  northern  Washington  and  southern 
British  Columbia,  perhaps  for  centuries. 

For  ages  this  place  has  been  the  mecca  toward 
which  the  aborigines  have  bent  their  steps,  travel- 
ing on  cayuses  or  on  foot. 

Even  the  early  day  white  man,  whether  he  be 
squaw  man,  stock  raiser,  prospector  or  general 
adventurer,  appeared  to  absorb  the  belief  of  the 
nomads  who  roamed  over  the  country,  and  they, 
too,  would  visit  this  peculiar  shrine,  and  like  their 
red  companions  would  offer  sacrifices  to  the  un- 
known. 

The  spot  is  that  which  the  Indians  term  a  "hee- 
hee  stone, "  or  a  lucky  stone.  "Hee-hee,"  in  the 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  127 

Chinook  jargon,  or  Hudson's  Bay  trading  lan- 
guage, is  equivalent  to  something  ludicrous,  or 
funny,  hence  if  the  term  is  taken  from  the  Chi- 
nook, it  is  not  a  proper  one. 

Legend  of  the  "Hee-Hee  Stone." 

The  Indian  legend  connected  with  this  stone  is 
that,  in  long  ages  past,  a  beautiful  Indian  maiden 
journeyed  from  the  far  north  on  foot  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  her  lover  who  lived  on  Mount 
Chapaca,  back  of  Osoyoos  lake.  She  crossed  the 
Kettle  river  valley  and  climbed  the  divide  by  fol- 
lowing up  what  is  now  known  as  Myers  creek. 
After  she  had  reached  the  divide  and  rounded 
the  northerly  base  of  Bonaparte  mountain,  she 
gazed  across  the  Okanogan  river  valley,  when  all 
at  once  Mount  Chapaca,  which  was  the  home  of 
her  lover,  belched  forth  great  volumes  of  fire  and 
smoke. 

This  action  of  the  mountain  so  frightened  the 
young  girl  that  she  turned  and  ran  swiftly  in  the 
direction  from  whence  she  came.  Finally  she 
stumbled  and  fell,  and,  the  legend  goes  on  to  say, 
turned  into  the  stone  which  forms  the  basis  for 
this  story. 

The  young  woman  was  carrying  a  small  sack 
of  camas  roots,  which  was  her  food  for  the  jour- 
ney, but  as  she  fell  and  turned  to  stone,  the  camas 
kept  on  going  and  finally  fell  to  the  ground  in  a 
large  level  piece  of  country  in  what  is  now  known 
as  the  state  of  Idaho,  and  has  always  been  known 
as  Camas  prairie  since  the  country  has  been  set- 
tled by  whites.  The  Indian  tradition  is  that  by 
this  means  this  succulent  root  was  first  planted  in 
that  portion  of  Idaho. 


FINALLY    SHE    STUMBLED    AND    FELL 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  1 29 

Bible  students  can  trace  a  resemblance  in  this 
story  to  that  of  Lot's  wife  in  holy  writ. 

A  Pioneer's  Experience. 

"It  was  about  August  1,  1889, "  said  an  old 
miner  last  evening,  "that  I  heard  this  legend.  At 
the  time  I  was  sojourning  at  Hiram  (Okanogan) 
Smith's  ranch  at  the  lower  end  of  Osoyoos  lake, 
which  is  a  widening  out  of  the  Okanogan  river, 
on  the.  boundary  line  between  the  United  States 
and  British  territory. 

"I  had  reached  this  ranch  by  traveling  horse- 
back up  Kettle  river,  crossing  the  divide  by  going 
up  Eock  creek  past  where  Camp  McKinney  is  now 
located.  I  found  that  I  could  reach  Kettle  river 
again  with  my  horse  and  pass  by  the  famous  lucky 
stone. 

"Mr.  Smith  furnished  my  companion  and 
myself  with  a  guide,  so  early  one  fine  morning  in 
August  we  started  up  Tonascut  creek  and  by  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  had  reached  the  goal. 

"Imagine  our  surprise  to  find  that  the  famous 
'hee-hee,'  or  lucky  stone  was  but  a  mass  of  argil- 
lite  slate  protruding  from  the  ground  in  a  slight 
depression  on  the  divide.  Poles  cut  from  the  sur- 
rounding timber  (the  stone  was  in  au  open  place), 
had  been  jammed  into  the  crevices  of  the  rock. 
On  these  poles  were  tied  all  kinds  of  garments 
that  an  Indian  buck,  squaw  or  pappoose  wears. 
Hair  from  horses'  manes  and  tails  and  from 
human  heads  as  well  were  there  in  great 
quantity.  Our  guide  informed  us  that  in  his  time 
he  had  seen  Hudson's  Bay  flintlock  muskets,  cook- 
ing utensils,  etc.,  piled  up  around  the  stone,  but 
evidently  the  roving  prospector  or  white  trapper, 


130  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

who  had  use  for  these  articles,  had  disregarded  the 
Siwash  belief  and  carried  everything  useful  away. 
The  guide  also  informed  us  that  one  of  the 
wealthiest  white  cattlemen  of  the  Okanogan  had 
left  something  of  great  value  at  the  stone  and 
immediately  his  luck  changed  for  the  better  and 
after  that  time  he  accumulated  his  fortune. 

Defer   to   Superstition. 

"Not  that  we  had  any  faith  in  the  stone,  did 
my  companion  and  myself  decide  to  contribute 
to  the  strange  god  or  goddess  of  fortune,  but  we 
began  to  search  our  pockets  for  some  kind  of  an 
offering.  We  happened  to  have  a  quart  bottle 
that  contained  a  little  whisky;  the  liquid  we 
absorbed  in  our  own  persons  and  the  empty  bottle 
I  fastened  on  a  twig  on  one  of  the  poles.  A  few 
old  keys  of  trunks  long  since  worn  out  I  also  sacri- 
ficed on  the  altar  of  fortune  and  wished  for 
happier  days. 

"By  the  cruel  irony  of  fate,  when  this  took  place 
it  was  on  the  4th  day  of  August,  1889,  and  when 
we  reached  civilization  it  was  to  learn  that  the 
business  portion  of  the  beautiful  city  of  Spokane 
Falls  had  been  consumed  by  fire.  Later  I  learned 
that  all  my  effects  and  the  accumulations  of  years 
had  been  entirely  consumed  in  that  great  con- 
flagration. 

"The  'hee-hee'  or  lucky  stone  is  a  fact,  and  it 
may  respond  to  the  desires  of  the  Siwash,  but  in 
my  case  it  would  not  work  with  a  white  man." 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  131 

HE  WOULD  TAKE  A  CHECK. 

A  story  was  told  at  the  time  of  the  sale  of  the 
Bunker  Hill  &  Sullivan  mine  in  1887,  which,  as  far 
as  known,  has  never  appeared  in  print. 

S.  G.  Eead,  since  dead,  but  at  that  time  a 
wealthy  citizen  of  Portland,  Ore.,  was  the  pur- 
chaser. The  consideration  was  $1,500,000,  one- 
half  of  which  was  cash.  This  cash,  amounting  to 
$750,000,  was  paid  out  to  the  owners  through  the 
First  National  bank,  which  at  that  time  occupied 
a  building  on  the  site  of  the  Exchange  Bank  build- 
ing, at  the  northwest  corner  of  Eiverside  avenue 
and  Howard  street.  James  N.  Glover  was  the 
bank's  president  and  Horace  L.  Cutter  was  the 
cashier. 

Among  the  parties  transferring  the  property 
to  Mr.  Eead  was  Jacob  Goetz  (Dutch  Jake),  Harry 
Baer,  Phil  O'Eourke,  Alex  Monk,  0.  0.  Peck,  Dr. 
J.  B.  Cooper,  Con  Sullivan  and  perhaps  one  or 
two  others. 

The  distribution  was  made  without  a  hitch  and 
no  one  had  any  objection  except  Con  Sullivan, 
after  whom  the  Sullivan  claim  of  the  group  was 
named.  Mr.  Sullivan  was  an  Irish-American 
prospector,  intelligent  and  bright,  but  this  was  the 
first  time  that  he  had  figured  as  one  of  the  prin- 
cipals in  a  large  financial  transaction,  and  he  de- 
sired to  be  extra  cautious. 

As  the  story  goes,  "Con"  went  to  "Jim" 
Glover,  the  bank  president,  and  stated  that  he  was 
not  posted  on  securities,  drafts,  certificates  of 
deposit,  etc.,  and  would  demand  his  share  of  the 
proceeds  in  cold,  hard  cash.  "All  right," 


132  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

responded  Mr.  Glover,  "you  can  have  it  as  you 
wish."  Mr.  Glover  sent  a  message  to  the  nearest 
transfer  office  and  soon  a  heavy  truck  was  backed 
up  to  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  the  bank  and 
employes  of  the  financial  institution  began  carry- 
ing out  boxes  of  gold  coin  and  loading  them  on  the 
conveyance.  When  Sullivan  gazed  on  the  heaped 
up  wealth  which  was  all  his  own  and  realized  the 
care  and  worry  that  he  would  have  in  looking  after 
it,  he  turned  to  the  bank  president  and  said :  l '  Mr. 
Glover,  I  believe  that  I'll  take  a  check." 


THE  BARREL  WAS  NOT  EMPTY. 


All  old-timers  who  were  in  the  Eossland  (B.  C.) 
boom  about  10  years  ago  will  remember  that  a 
well  known  old-time  mining  man  was  the  manager 
of  the  Center  Star.  As  names  will  not  be  men- 
tioned in  this  story,  the  manager  will  be  referred 
to  as  Mr.  D. 

Mr.  D.  was  not  a  drinking  man  to  any  great 
extent,  but  when  he  did  go  against  the  ardent  he 
was  a  stayer  and  always  managed  to  absorb  suf- 
ficient liquid  hardware  to  keep  him  on  the  water 
wagon  for  some  time  afterward. 

During  the  development  of  this  mine,  which 
later  on  sold  for  $2,000,000  cash,  it  was  necessary 
to  sink  a  shaft  or  a  winze.  After  attaining  a  cer- 
tain depth  a  flow  of  water  was  struck  which 
retarded  developments  until  such  time  as  means 
could  be  provided  for  removing  the  surplus  fluid. 
The  foreman  reported  these  facts  to  the  manager 
and  it  was  finally  decided  that  an  empty  wfilsky 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  133 

barrel  would  answer  the  purpose  when  properly 
ironed,  rigged  up  and  connected  with  the  hoist. 

To  save  time  and  secure  the  barrel,  the  man- 
ager, Mr.  D.,  immediately  started  down  town. 
Patiently  the  foreman  waited  all  day  long  for  the 
return  of  Mr.  D.  or  to  see  a  team  drive  up  and 
unload  the  longed  for  whisky  barrel.  Another 
day  passed  and  neither  Mr.  D.  or  the  barrel  were 
in  evidence. 

Finally,  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day,  as  the 
foreman  could  wait  no  longer,  he  started  in  quest 
of  his  chief  and  the  empty  barrel.  After  making 
inquiry  as  to  Mr.  D.'s  whereabouts,  that  individ- 
ual was  located  at  the  —  -  hotel,  a  popular 
hostelry  kept  by  a  much  widowed  lady  well  known 
in  Bossland  at  that  time.  Mr.  D.,  when  the  fore- 
man found  him,  was  lying  fast  asleep  on  a  lounge 
in  the  parlor.  On  being  awakened  and  when  the 
errand  of  the  foreman  was  made  known  to  him, 
Mr.  D.  rubbed  his  eyes  and  said:  (Hie)  "Been 
three  days  trying  to  empty  barrel  (hie),  not 
emptied  yet  (hie),  when  empty  will  send  up  to 
mine  (hie),  lesh  take  a  (hie)  drink/' 


WAS  MISTAKEN  FOR  DEPEW. 

Every  one  who  knows  Colonel  N.  E.  Linsley, 
who  has  been  a  resident  of  Spokane  for  a  number 
of  years,  is  aware  that  he  very  much  resembles 
Senator  Depew  of  New  York. 

A  few  months  ago  the  colonel  went  east  for  the 
purpose  of  presenting  the  silver  service  set  to  the 
officers  of  the  armored  cruiser  Washington,  being 


134  A  Half -Breed  Dance  and 

chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  by  Governor 
Mead. 

While  in  New  York  Colonel  Linsley  was  a  guest 
at  the  Waldorf-Astoria,  and  at  the  same  time 
there  was  quite  a  delegation  of  politicians  down 
from  the  upper  part  of  the  state.  As  every  one 
of  these  people  were  hungry  for  office  it  can  be 
imagined  the  button-holing  that  the  Spokane  man 
was  subject  to  and  the  promises  that  he  was  forced 
to  make. 

One  party  in  particular,  who  desired  a  treasury 
job  down  at  Washington,  and  who  had  the  assur- 
ance of  the  supposed  senator  that  the  matter 
would  be  fixed  with  " Teddy,"  is  probably  now 
cussing  Messrs.  Eoosevelt  and  Depew  plenty 
because  the  promised  position  is  not  in  sight.  How 
many  bottles  of  wine  and  the  number  of  two-bit 
cigars  that  the  colonel  consumed  on  account  of 
the  strong  resemblance  he  is  too  modest  to  tell. 


THE  PRINCE  WOULD  NOT  KNOW  HIM. 


All  old-timers  know  Phil  O'Rourke,  one  of  the 
discoverers  of  the  Bunker  Hill  and  Sullivan  mines 
at  Wardner,  Idaho.  They  also  know  the  late 
George  B.  McAuley,  who  was  a  character  among 
the  miners  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  and  British 
Columbia.  Phil  was  Irish  and  George  was  Scotch 
and  when  these  two  met  there  was  generally  some 
fun  for  those  within  hearing  distance. 

The  pathway  of  both  these  pioneers  of  this  sec- 
tion was  not  so  strewn  with  roses  in  the  early 
days  of  the  Coeur  d'Alene  as  it  became  after 


Other  Far  Western  Stories.  135 

transportation  reached  the  different  camps  and 
capital  began  to  flow  in  to  the  mines,  and  often  it 
became  necessary  for  them  as  well  as  others  to 
take  any  kind  of  a  job  that  was  offered.  McAuley 
had,  it  appears,  at  a  previous  time  in  his  mining 
experience,  made  quite  a  stake  in  Colorado,  after 
which  he  returned  to  his  native  land  and  pro- 
ceeded to  cut  a  wide  swath  as  a  mining  king.  In 
some  manner  he  became  introduced  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  now  King  Edward  the  VII.  George 
never  neglected  to  inform  all  whom  he  met  of  this 
honor. 

There  came  a  time  in  the  early  days  of  the 
Coeur  d ' Alene  when  Phil,  George  and  a  number  of 
the  boys  were  glad  to  accept  the  job  of  digging  a 
placer  ditch  on  the  North  Side.  George,  on 
account  of  his  lack  of  strength  as  compared  with 
the  others,  was  the  water  boy  of  the  outfit.  One 
blistering  hot  day  as  he  laboriously  toiled  up  the 
steep  mountain  side  from  the  creek  below,  with 
two  heavy  pails  of  water  for  his  thirsty  com- 
panions, Phil  0  'Bourke,  as  he  stood  leaning  on  his 
shovel  remarked  so  that  all  could  hear  him:  "Say, 
George,  the  Prince  of  Wales  would  not  know  you 
if  he  saw  you  now,  would  he?" 


.   a« 

A  half-fcreod  dance . 


917096 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

I 


A  Half  Breed  Dance  and 
Other  Far  Western  Stories 


KEMP 


